


Assassin's Lady

by AMNigma



Series: Assassin's Lady Universe [1]
Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Betrayal, Emotional Manipulation, Explicit Language, F/M, Family Fluff, Healing, I mean it's how i talk, I should really have someone help me here, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Kinda, MariBat, Mental Instability, Misunderstandings, Slow Burn, but i just want to warn people as they may get uncomfortable, how do you tag without giving out too much of the story?, i guess, like for the first chapter only
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 08:42:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 33,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21133892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AMNigma/pseuds/AMNigma
Summary: Marinette is a superhero who has a lot on her plate. Damian is a vigilante who just wants to live his own life. Marinette always does what's right and when she makes a mistake, she's left to her own devices. Damian always makes mistakes from his father's eyes and just wants to do something right this time.When Damian agrees to finish an assignment for her mother and use it to his advantage to take over the league, he wasn't expecting his plans to be foiled just by some feelings he feel for a certain bluenette.~~Summary by Aria!





	1. Chapter 1

It wasn’t really that hard to escape from the Manor. He was trained since birth to unlock the most secure safes and defeat heavily armed and trained people at their peak performance since Damian was a toddler. Escaping the house of a superhero billionaire, who happened to be his father, is just as easy, if not easier.

The escape from home was not what he was worried - no, irked. Damian al Ghul-Wayne would never get worried - about, it was how he would explain his continuous contact with his _dearest_ mother to his father and siblings.

“You’ve grown, my love.”

Damian did not need to turn around to know who was speaking. The endearment, if you can call it that, was just a way for Talia al Ghul to get his attention.

“How have you been?” Talia emerged from behind Damian, touching his shoulder. Breathing calmly, he showed his practiced face, devoid of emotion, to make sure that the woman behind him did not take advantage of him like she did with the first 10 years of his life. “Still cold, I see. That’s one thing you learned from your _father_, I guess.”

Damian, feeling the release of his birth giver’s touches, walked towards the sofa in the middle of the room. When he arrived at the cruise ship her mother stole, or illegally borrowed (whichever term you prefer), he couldn’t help but feel the same nagging feeling of wanting to come back to this way of life. Stealing, waiting for someone to try to capture them only to kill everyone who dares try. He loved the blood that rained from the mutilated bodies, the strained screams of _begging_ \- oh gods the begging. He loved the feel of the kill.

Yet, that was no longer who he was. Damian Wayne was not Damian Al Ghul. Damian Wayne was a schoolboy despite having more knowledge, of any given subject, than his teachers. A part of a _family_ he couldn't betray and a _team_ he's grown to _cherish_. Even if he missed the life of darkness filled with blood, he wasn’t willing to give up being Damian Wayne. Never. The images of his adoptive brothers, his pets, his father, Alfred, the Titans, and everyone in between passed through his mind every time he is overcome with bloodlust. That alone was proof that he chooses them over the life of a criminal. Not that they would know.

Damian felt a thirst for blood when he looked at the woman who created him all those years ago. In fact, he had always felt the same way when the League is involved. It took some time to control it, but he was doing a lot better than before, but that was just with the idea of seeing them, but actually being in the presence of the Shadows had a different effect. A more murderous effect. He had to control himself better. It was the reason for Damian being here, after all.

“What is this mission you were offering, mother?” Damian asked, as polite and distant as he could. He didn’t want Talia Al Ghul to think that she can keep calling him like this. Like he'd answer with just a snap of her fingers every time. 

Talia hummed and smiled. An act she used with her lovers - _victims, preys_ \- when she wanted something from them. Most of the time, it was their life. An act that can fool anyone into thinking she was sweet and docile. Damian will never be fooled by it. 

“No need to rush,  my  _ perfect _ son. Just a little exchange between me and an old _friend_.”

Damian fought the shudder that crawled up his spine as the words were practically purred into his ear. Spying, deceiving, getting information, infiltrating a secured facility, and in the end, probably killing, or if they were lucky, maiming victims. He mentally shook the thought off and focused on calming himself. 

“Where to?” the question he asked made his mother’s eyes shine. 

Talia stood up and walked towards the curtained windows. As she opened the floor to ceiling curtains of the small suite, Damian was shown the night lights of the Eiffel Tower and its surrounding area. 

Smiling, Talia looked back at her son. “Paris, my love.” 

~~~~~~~~~

Tim groaned for the nth time. “Of course we can’t find him that easily. He’s not Dick.”

Static can be heard from their communication devices before the voice of their beloved eldest brother could be heard. “Hey,” more static. “I heard that.”

“Did he have to ruin our comms though? It’s not like we’ll look for him. We’re not as obsessed with him as Dick is.” 

“Hey!” a more resounding shout of denial crackled through their earpieces. 

Tim couldn’t be bothered with it at all. Their youngest sibling managed to escape from the Wayne Manor - well, ran away from home, really, but Tim doubted that the child would like for it to be called that - while he was supposed to be staying at the Manor, grounded for almost setting his entire classroom on fire. _Again_ Granted that the defenses really weren't that tight from the inside, it was still ridiculously fast how the newest Robin managed that before any of them noticed.

As much as he hated to say it out loud, Timothy Drake saw their youngest family member as, well, that. Family. The fights and teasing aside, Tim had always hated being the youngest male in the household  _ and _ the batgroup, so in a way, he was relieved and even - dare he say it - slightly _happy_ when Damian appeared in their lives. 

Then there was that matter with Damian’s death, Jonathan Kent’s age skip after his space tour, that mystery gang from Gotham Academy, then the drama with the Titans. Tim felt for his youngest sibling. Their family, despite not being blood-related, was cursed with multiple burdens from a young age. He was just glad Damian was more human nowadays than Demon Spawn. 

Of course Tim won’t admit that out loud. He had his pride as an older brother. 

Finally having landed near one of the many openings to the batcave from a forest outskirts the city, the Red Robin heaved a breath. “You guys need to look for him without me,” his announcement was met with murmurs of agreement. “Since Bat’s in a League mission, I also need to leave for a business trip to represent him.” The announcement was something everyone was already told before, but Tim needed to make sure that they know that he will be off the country so he couldn’t, even if he wanted to, help them. “Please make sure no one kills anyone.”

Barbara spoke up at that moment, easing the worries he had. “Don’t worry, Tim. We’ll handle it from here.”

Tim trusted those words and entered their hideout, removing his gear and going back to the manor. He needed to do his day job for now.  _ Charm Parisians. _

~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing Marinette felt was the blinding headache. After all crying she did for hours on end in her room alone, she guessed that’s what it does. 

“Marinette?” a soft voice asked. Maybe she wasn’t as she thought.

“Hey,” her voice was faint and her throat hurt. The only remaining friend she had had consoled her through the night as she bawled her eyes out as silently as she could. “I’m sorry,” her apology sounded like an excuse even to her ears, but it was all she could say as she fought the tears of yesterday back. 

Tikki, the sweetheart that she was, immediately hugged Marinette. “I’m here, Marinette.” The small voice consoled Marinette. “I’m just here for you.”

Marinette focused on those words for now as her heart clenched. The tears she tried to hold back, gave up, and fell down her cheeks. She decided to cover her face with her pillow in an effort to drown out the sounds of her sobs. 

Yesterday, she was invited to a party by, her supposed best friend, Alya. The reporter had been so sweet about it, too. Then Lila appeared, and everything spiraled down a drain. Something in Marinette snapped. All her pent up anger at the lies and hatred she had lashed out. 

_ “You know Jagged Stone, right?”  _ Marinette remembered herself asking.  _ “Well, he invited me to the recording of his last album and he never mentioned you.”  _ She screamed into the pillow as she tried to forget last night.  _ “In fact, let me call Jagged right now. I’m sure he’d  _ love _ to hear from  _ you _ . _ ” 

Marinette banged her head on her bed. She couldn’t believe what she had just done! She hated people who belittle others. She was supposed to be a superhero! The superhero. Ladybug! Yet there she was yesterday, calling Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale from their personal cell phones just to flaunt to Lila de Rossi that  _ she _ was the one who knew them personally. Her! Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Not Lila. 

And yet, despite acting as Lila did, her actions weren’t met with the same praise. She was looked at with pity and disbelief. Kim, Nino,  _ Alya  _ even  _ Adrien _ . They all consoled the brunette. Others stood by to watch. 

Marinette didn’t remember how she got home, only that she ran out as fast as she could, trying to hold Tikki as she clutched her purse. Wanting the kwami's wisdom, guidance. Just, a friend at that moment. 

She didn't notice it as she reminisced, but Marinette lost consciousness once again and she was awoken by the sounds of screams and panic from outside. 

With her eyes clouded, she looked at Tikki who was looking at her with a horrified expression. For a moment, Marinette wondered why she wasn’t akumatized, yet. Was she not the most depressing person in Paris right now? 

When she looked at her hands, she immediately understood the answer why. With a seam ripper on one hand and a bloodied wrist on the other arm, Marinette realized that the akuma wouldn’t work because she would be of no use if her main goal was to kill herself.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now edited to correct verb tenses. If you see any other misses, please let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

Damian hated being around people. He loved humiliating others, sure, but he doesn’t deliberately look for anyone to humiliate. If he was just left alone, he wouldn’t even  _ notice _ unimportant, regular people. Yet there are just some  _ people _ that just can’t keep their noses in their own businesses for some reason. 

He glared at the man who kept on following him. He’s been persistent for a few hours now, despite Damian keeping up with the social circle and going from venue to venue for the night. He’s been to 4 different places in Paris and every single time, the guy was just  _ there _ .

“Damian Wayne, just one, come on, boy. Don’t be a priss like your daddy. Model for me”

To be fair, as he has been trying to say all night, Damian  _ did  _ try to ignore the man, but he wonders if Dick and his father can forgive him for retaliating at this point. His father probably, but Dick acted as if Damian was the Nightwing’s first born so he might be harder to persuade.

No matter, it’s nothing a few patrol and  _ going with the plan  _ can’t fix. 

The man touched Damian’s shoulder in an effort to stop him. Damian refused to be called a boy and be manhandled, and the next second the man was on the ground, ass up the air, his right arm twisted to an unbelievable angle and his back pinned down. 

“Self defense,” Damian called. “He touched me first.” 

The man screamed in pain. Guards from Le Grand Paris Hotel came rushing in to apparently come to Damian’s rescue. As if he needed any. They were late anyway. 

The man on the ground seemed to have slightly recovered as he began shouting when Damian entered the hotel premises. “You don’t understand! I just need an hour with the young master Wayne. He’ll understand! He’ll model for me. You can even have copies! It’ll be a masterpiece!”

Damian wanted to shudder in disgust, but opted out of it. He can’t do it in front of other people at least. He decided on a frown instead. That was his signature in public anyway.  _ The cool and stoic, youngest Wayne whose facial expressions range from bored, sadistic, angry or disgusted _ . Damian saw it fitting. It was true anyway.

A few minutes upon entering, he was greeted by the Mayor of Paris, who happened to also own the hotel. Talk about power hungry. He was talking about something regarding the hotel’s history and his daughter.

“-eard your elder brother is staying at the hotel, too!”

Damian must have stopped paying attention at some point during the conversation because his mind only snapped at those words. Did the stupid, fat man with a daughter complex, just say the word  _ brother _ ? Not only that, he said  _ his _ , and if Damian was correct, that meant that they were following him. That can’t be though. Even Damian didn’t know where he was going. 

The youngest bat tried to get a sense of his surroundings without making it so obvious. He looked at the young woman in front of her, just beside the mayor. A bit young to be a mistress, but hey, Damian won’t judge. 

“Lead me to my room,” he demanded, cutting off whatever else the mayor was saying. 

The man seemed smart enough to immediately do as he says. At least he was wiser than that stalker outside. Damian gave a nod of approval. For now. 

The young bat stalked to his room as he got a hold of the nearest portable device he could find, an encrypted phone, and began looking for things he needed to look out for. 

According to Talia, calling her mother when she’s not even there seemed tiring since Alfred was more of a mother AND a father figure in one, the main goal of this mission was to recruit whichever villain comes up in Paris. Preferably a guy named Eaglemoth. Eaglemoth? Something like that. Terrible naming sense if you ask him, but hey, so was Robin and he took over THAT mantle. 

Damian swore before that if he ever got a hold of the Batman mantle, he’ll do everything in his power to change that darned name. Nightwing chose a good name, but it was stolen. Red Hood had no impact and that terrible name Red Robin was worse than just Robin. What was Drake thinking when he chose the name anyway? Just to mixture his old mantle to Todd’s?

Grimacing, the current Robin perused through his devices and checked on all the news regarding any of his  _ brothers _ . Supposedly, one of them was here. He needed to find out who to know how to evade them as much as possible. 

“Ahhhhh!” the shouts of panic from outside of his door was an evident sign that he may not be able to do that just right at that moment. Tutting, he resorted to hide his stuff and check the situation. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Luka attempted to focus on his music. He really did. Composing new music needed inspiration and  _ focus _ . Since he currently has none of the first one, he might as well go for the latter. Yet, for some reason, he felt a nagging tug at the seams of his mind. 

He hummed a deep breath to  _ try _ to restore his focus. Not that it would actually help as a moment later, he heard footsteps come down from their ship deck to the cabins. 

“Luka!” he heard his sister shout, her voice strained. “Akuma attack!”

Luka ignored the beating of his heart. Ever since he was given Sass, he’s begun having these dreams and emotions he can’t seem to place. Memories that weren’t his and feelings he can’t explain. 

Another scream. “Luka!”

Scrambling to his feet, Luka ran towards the stairs to stake on the area, looking for his mother and sister. He saw them frozen in place like statues. As if posing for a picture or modeling. A man above them was floating in the air. 

“Great! Perfection!” the man announced before suddenly summoning a wide canvas. The man began painting his mother, and as he did so, she began disappearing. 

Looking at Juleka, he could see her sister’s panic rising from her eyes. As an elder brother, Luka can’t take that. “Hey,” he heard his voice calling to the villain. Realizing he was the one who spoke, he tried to scour his brain for the best option to help out. He didn’t have Sass at the moment and neither Chat Noir nor Ladybug were there. How the hell can he help out? 

Thankfully, the villain took an interest in him. “Oh!” the exclamation made Luka feel dread, but being able to save his sister was enough to make it worth it. It will be all for naught though if he gets into whatever trap this villain has. “A handsome one, we have here,” the compliment was unexpected. 

Deciding to get away while he still has the villain’s attention, he ran out of the deck and to the platform. “Thanks,” he breathed. “But if you want to paint me, you’d have to catch me first.” 

The villain laughed and immediately took his paintbrush out and began swinging it at him, as some sort of paint tried to hit him. Luka ran in zig zag, making sure none of the paint that came from the villain touched him. 

When he saw a dog pass by and get hit, the dog began to still and pose, with two paws up the air. Luka would have laughed if he wasn’t so terrified of what can happen. 

The guitarist turned to an alleyway and hid near a trash bin. Closing in, he suddenly felt something from behind him. Looking at what piece of garbage he was about to crush, he found a box. The same box where he first saw Sass come out from. 

He was sure no one was around, so he didn’t know who may have given it to him, but without Ladybug and Chat Noir, he didn’t have a choice but to step up. For now. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette promised Tikki that she won’t hurt herself. That was the only way she could convince the kwami to transform her. She was just glad the kwami agreed to save Paris first before whatever fuck up she may still do. 

Proceeding to her rooftop and swinging to the middle of the town, she saw that the most commotion came from the middle of the city. She rushed to the area and was greeted by an unfamiliarly familiar sight. 

“How many of you are there _ ? _ ” a low voice of one of the caped persons, said.  _ English, _ Marinette though. She can do English. 

He seemed muscular, but looking at his features, he couldn’t have been much older than him. Maybe Luka’s age? But who were they? Miraculous holders?

“ _ Ladybug _ !” she heard Luka’s voice say in French. Looking at the source, she saw him dressed as Viperion. “Thank goodness you’re here.” 

“ _ Where’s the akuma _ ?” she asked out of habit. The faster she gets this done, the faster she can go back to wallowing alone in despair. 

_ Focus, Marinette _ , she remembered Tikki’s voice reprimanding her a while ago.

They avoided an attack and another one of the hooded masked people attempted to tackle the akumatized victim. 

“Little help here, Robin?” the other, taller person asked. 

Robin? Marinette mentally asked.  _ Focus! _

The villain splashed some of the paint on the guy who’s pinned him down and the guy stopped his movements before making a pose. 

Marinette began to take her surroundings and saw that a lot of people have indeed been posed in weird positions while frozen in their place. She started to back away and went to Viperion’s side to try to form a plan. 

“ _ Distract him _ ,” she asked the snake Miraculer. 

“ _ Got it _ .” 

_ Where was Chat Noir? _ She asked mentally before doing the Lucky Charm. 

As it was about to fall down, the other guy, Robin, knocked it over. 

“What the fuck?” he heard the voice say as he held the Lucky Charm item on his hands. “A hose? What kind of party trick was that?”

Marinette wanted to recoil at the accusing words. “ _ It’s not like I wanted a hose to appear! _ ” The shout was probably louder and more snappy than she intended it to be.

She checked her surroundings on how to use the item and she immediately understood what she needed to do. As long as water is poured over the paint to wash it off, the effects will wear off. 

She connected one end of the hose to a public water tap while holding the other. As she was about to turn the tap on, Viperion pushed her away. “ _ Watch out _ !”

“_What do you think you’re doing_, Ladybug?” The villain just got to Viperion. 

Marinette panicked again, her breathing heavy. 

_ My fault. This is all my fault. If only I was better.  _

“Heads up, spots!” he heard the accented voice of the strange new hero they have. Kicking the villain away from her, Robin rushed to the tap and twisted the cap. Water flowed from the end of the hose she was holding and she pointed it to the villain.

“Ahhh!” the limited actions of the akumatized victim from the water splashed on him gave way for Robin to shoot him with something. The body doubled over and fell on the floor. Robin closed the water tap and went over the body to kick it over so the villain was facing up.

Marinette headed over to the villain and got the paint brush.

“Hey,” Robin held one of her hands. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Now, Marinette understood English pretty well, but speaking it was an entirely different thing. “Akuma,” she settled as she gestured to the paint brush. 

Silently asking for Robin to trust her, Marinette broke the paintbrush and did her magic. 

~~~~~~~~~

“Miraculous Ladybug!” the shout confused Damian as he looked at her through silent eyes. This girl seemed timid and afraid for some reason, yet when speaking with her comrade, she changed her demeanor to appear  _ happier _ . 

Robin grimaced, and in a split second it turned to surprise and utter shock. Every single one of the victims of the villain were suddenly able to move. All the destruction and paint that was splattered around disappeared. The villain who they were just having a hard time dealing with due to his ridiculous abilities suddenly turned into the asshole that tried to harass him earlier in the day. Most importantly, Eiffel freaking tower, which was supposed to be bent over due to an explosion he devised to distract the villain was back to it’s tip top shape.

“What the actual fu-”


	3. Chapter 3

“A ladybug superhero,” Jason repeated again, for what seemed to be the millionth time. 

“Ladybug and Viperion, yes,” Tim’s voice seemed to be exhausted, because of the fighting or because of him, Jason wasn’t sure. 

“Are you on drugs?” Jason couldn’t help but ask. Magic paint. Transforming villains. Casualties and injuries healing in a snap of one’s fingers. Tim is either shitting them, or this is an elaborate illusion because there is  _ no way _ that there are undocumented  _ teenage _ superheroes with magical abilities loose in Paris.  _ Paris _ ! 

Batman made a quick contact with some members of the league from his computer while another part of the large screen in the cave accommodated the video call they were doing with Tim and, apparently, Damian. 

“How’s Damian anyway?” Dick asked, ever eager to know about their youngest. 

Tim heaved a deep sigh, “Pissed. He’s been talking to the  _ mother  _ since the situation was explained to us by Viperion.” 

“So, let me get this straight,” Jason tried to recall the details. “There are teenage superheroes in Paris,  _ France _ , with over glorified jewelries that a villain, called  _ Hawkfly _ , wants?”

“Hawk _ moth _ ,” Tim corrected. 

Jason waved him away and continued, “And the superheroes are called Ladybug, Cat Noir, Viperion, Carapace, Rena Rou-”

Tim groaned. “I get it, okay? It sounds ridiculous. I know.”

“ _ Sounds _ ridiculous? It  _ is _ ridiculous! And their naming sense is terrible.”

“Not as terrible as Red Hood,” a voice interrupts. 

Jason smirked, “Oh, don’t join in on my account,  _ demon brat _ .”

You can’t blame Jason really, he just loves riling their youngest up. He’s the only one who he can relate to the most anyway. The blood lust. The league. He knows Bruce has been through it, too, but it just wasn’t the same. And seeing Damian’s emotional constipation makes Jason remember himself at the same age. He wanted Damian to be the opposite as he grew up. All the hardships need to be behind him. 

“Damian! You’re still grounded,” Dick reprimanded. “I’m going to Paris to get you,” he immediately announced. 

“Master Dick,” Alfred soothed, a cup of tea already prepared. “I doubt that’s necessary for the current situation.”

This was the time that the Bat decided to interfere. “Alfred’s right. I’ve sent out information to the League, but since we are Justice League of  _ America _ , France is out of our jurisdiction.” The explanation was stoic, but it was evident on Bruce’s voice that he didn’t like it. 

“So you’re just leaving this?” Damian asked when the pause settled. 

Bruce looked at the monitor to where his blood son was staring back. “No.” 

Everyone in the room and on the call prepared themselves. That was the voice that meant that Bruce Wayne was going to send them on a mission. And even if they all work separately at times. Family missions are bigger, thus more exciting. 

_ Exciting equates to killing _ , Jason ignored the voice. For now. 

“Robin and Red Robin,” Batman paused, a momentary hesitation showed on his face. “You’ll stay in Paris for now.” 

“I’m going, too!” Nightwing volunteered. 

Batman shook his head, “We don’t need to crowd the place or they’ll be suspicious that the League is involved.”

“Someone needs to watch over the two kids though.” Jason pointed out. 

Tim rolled his eyes, “I detest that.” 

Jason raised a brow. “No retort from the Demon Spawn?”

Tim turned to his side, empty. “Dammit, he left!”

“That’s fine,” Bruce mentioned. 

Jason waited, this had got to be good. That tone ever only comes out if there was something fun or funny.

“Barbara-”

Jason didn’t even hear the rest of the sentence yet and he already couldn’t contain his glee. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette hid in her room as the day went by, only leaving for meals, where she pretends to eat, so that her parents won’t notice her depression. It was pathetic of her to be saddened about her own actions. Everything was her fault anyway, she had no right to feel this way. 

And yet she did. 

“You need water,” Tikki reminded every now and then. “And some more food. Macarons, at least.”

Smiling with as much warmth as she could, Marinette mouthed a silent thank you. She wondered if Tikki only did this because she was the current holder of the miraculous, but immediately shook the thought of for thinking so terrible of her friend. 

After she restored Paris, she had to leave as fast as she could before she could transform back being  _ Marinette _ . She made a quick, jolly goodbye to Viperion and the new heroes. 

As her thoughts go back to the two new caped crusaders in their city, she remembered needing to ask Master Fu about it. She’s not aware of any of the Miraculous having those abilities, and as far as she knows, she’s seen most of their abilities already. 

_ Unless Master Fu doesn’t trust you with knowing more. _

“No!” 

The scream startled the spirit of good luck and made her look worriedly at her partner. “I’m here, Marinette. Don’t worry. I’ll just be here.” 

For seemingly the millionth time during that day, she felt thankful for having Tikki by her side. Even if Tikki was looking out for her as a miraculous holder, she’ll take the kindness as it comes before it slips from her again. 

“I’ll just be here,” Tikki repeated. “If ever you want to talk, I’ll just be here.”

The tears she was trying to hold back fell at once in that moment. “I-I’m s-s-so sorry,” Marinette stammered in between sobs. “I’m so s-s-sorry, T-Tikki.” 

“I’m just here,” the red fairy consoled. 

~~~~~~~~

Damian followed the tracker to a rooftop of a local bakery and what he learned about the Ladybug hero was, unsurprisingly, respectable. 

Being in the superhero business for quite some time, and living as one of the best assassins before that, he knew that having abilities above the rest does not come with flowers and cotton candy clouds in the skies. Damian knew that the blue haired girl in the spotted costume was not going to be as perfect as his research has appeared her to be, but to have  _ no one _ ?

Remembering the time he started as Robin, then the time of his death and becoming Redbird. He can definitely relate to being alone, but unlike this girl, he’s always been alone. She wasn’t. Damian was sure that if any of his adoptive brothers were to learn of this girl, she would immediately be coddled. 

So far, what he knew of her is that she is talking to a miniscule, bug-like creature as she profusely apologized for something she seemingly regretted. Mentions of different names that Damian has mentally listed - Adrien, Lila, Alya, and so on. 

Not to help, of course. Damian is not about to join his family’s habit of mentally adopting people and taking them in without their consent. This is just for research, and to make sure that the mental health of a possible future comrade. He needs her at her peak condition if they want to fight against people they don’t know of and from what she’s seen, her abilities of restoration is impeccable, to say the least. 

As he recorded the conversation, Damian took a peek at her house from below. The parents looked normal. The father was some sort of big man, but with the way he acts and his demeanor, he was definitely not anyone intimidating at all. The woman, blue haired like the superhero, had something else about her, but Damian will still bet his mantle as the Robin that she was just a regular housewife with a business. 

After concluding that the family was all around ordinary, he decided to keep on recording from afar. Damian went to the rooftop one more time to take one last peek at the object of his investigation before moving on to where Viperion’s tracker was signalling. At least that was supposedly his plan. 

“R-Rob’n?” 

Damian looked at the source of the voice and mentally cursed. Thank goodness for the mask.

Right now, Damian’s main priority is to gain the trust of this superhero. Although he was originally sent there to get the villain  _ Hawkmoth _ \- he remembered correctly this time - he was no longer a lackey of the League of Assassins. He’ll make sure that the villain gets eradicated before Talia can take advantage of the new bad guy. 

The youngest bat held his hands up as a form of peace. “I come in peace.” 

“ _ I _ ,” she cleared her throat. “ _ I don’t _ -” then, after seemingly realizing that she was wearing thin pajamas and a blanket with her bloodshot eyes, she covered her face. “ _ I’m sorry. Do you need anything _ ?”

Damian contemplated. Should he tell him he knew she was Ladybug? “ _ How do you know who I am _ ?” he asked instead. In French, to match the language that the girl was using.

“Oh, umm, ah,  _ I _ ,” she put her arms down and showed her face, but she looked everywhere  _ but _ at him.  _ She’s thinking of an excuse, _ he decided. “ _ I was at the attack. Y-you and Ladybug saved me _ .”

Unfortunately, he can’t claim that he saw every victim at the park that time considering the fact that it was an unfamiliar place. Damian decided to play along and hummed. He looked around at her shoulders to check for the red fairy, but it wasn’t around. 

“_I was patrolling_,” he walked and faced her as she stood on the pathway to the balcony. “_Do you mind if I check the view?_” he flicked a recording device inside her room. 

The girl stared for a few seconds, “Oh!” Ladybug’s civilian identity nodded over to the night sky behind him. “ _ Of course _ ,”

He knew then that the distraction was successful. Upon making a quick perusal from the balcony, he looked at the crying girl. She moved to go to the balcony with him and stay at the railings. Damian never knew how to console people when crying. The best he did with Jon before was let him cry on his shoulder as he kept silent. Damian wondered if that would help her. 

When he realized that they’ve been staring at each other for too long, he tutted to hide his lack of thought process. Reaching his arm out, Damian decided on a pat on the head. The Ladybug must have noticed and, probably out of habit from being patted by her parents or something, moved towards him. 

The next moment, she slipped. Thankfully, Damian had quick reflexes and caught her right away. In that position, anyone would think that he was attacking her. One of his hands cradling her head as the back of it touches the ground. The other flat on the balcony’s floor, mostly to support both their bodies but ultimately to make sure his own body does not press on hers. And his knees straddling her. 

Damian was about to let her go, but a sob came out of her mouth. 

“ _ Sorry, _ ” the French was unclear from her clogged nose, but understandable. The girl covered her eyes with the blanket once again. 

That was when Damian realized something. The girl didn’t move towards his hand out of habit. She was touch starved. 

Not knowing what to do, he decided to relax his body and cuddled her, like he cuddled his cat, Alfred, on the floor of her own balcony. He’s thankful Drake didn’t know where he was or he’ll never hear the end of it. 


	4. Chapter 4

_ “Marinette, that looks great!” Alya hugged her from behind as she showed the reporter her newest design for a dress. _

_ A smile formed on her face. “Thanks, bff!” _

_ A laugh from the brunette, “Bff?” her voice sounded incredulous. “Yeah, right.”  _

_ “What?” _

_ The laugh turned sardonic and the scene changed. She was in front of a runway. Adrien was walking down the catwalk wearing her piece. The people in the audience were laughing at him. Adrien looked at her.  _

_ “This is all your fault,” his face showed an expression of shame as he threw the hat she designed to the ground.  _

_ “Adrien, wait!” Marinette called as she tried to run towards him and reach out.  _

_ The scene changed again. This time she was in their classroom facing the seats. The room was empty, and when she checked her surroundings, she saw that the board was full of words of spite against her.  _

_ Horrified at the words she can’t even describe, she backed away only to bump into something. Or more specifically,  _ someone. 

_ “I told you, Marinette,” Lila’s voice echoed through the room and surrounded her. The next thing she knew, everyone was ganging up on her.  _

_ “You’re not my best friend!” Alya. _

_ No. _

_ “I’m disappointed in you.” Adrien. _

_ Please. _

_ “You’re just a nobody,” Chloe. _

_ Stop. _

_ “You’re not good enough,” Kagami. _

_ Please. _

_ “You’re not our daughter,” her father.  _

_ I’m sorry. _

_ “How could you have done this?” her mother.  _

_ I’m sorry. _

_ “Marinette!” she heard her Kwami’s voice and she looked up. Meeting the eyes of Master Fu, she stilled at the pained disappointment in his face.  _

_ “You’re no longer worthy as Ladybug,” his voice was steely as he closed the box where Tikki’s earrings were in. “Lila de Rossi, you are the new Ladybug.” _

_ Seeing the scene of Lila receiving the box, Marinette’s entire world shattered as the deafening sound of her screams reverberated through her surroundings.  _

~

“Marinette!” 

Her pounding heart was the first thing Marinette took note of as she woke up. A dream. That was all it was. _ A dream _ . 

Feeling a small pinch on her body, she looked at her kwami. “It was just a dream, Marinette. Just a dream,” the good luck fairy consoled. 

Still breathing heavily, Marinette gulped. “Just a dream,” she repeated, wanting to convince herself. 

After a few seconds of silence, Marinette noticed, “I’m on my bed.” 

“Oh,” Tikki smiled warmly. “Robin tucked you in.” Marinette’s face flamed in shame. 

Remembering what happened yesterday made Marinette flush. “Oh,” she echoed. 

  
  


“He was kind enough to leave his cape for you.” 

True enough, he was clenching a black coat with yellow seams. It was full of tears and snot, sure, but the silk was intriguing. Almost, rubberlike but soft. Shaking her fashion tendencies aside, she realized the situation. 

“He left his cape!” 

Tikki nodded, “And also a note. It’s on your night stand. He seemed genuinely concerned.” 

Marinette felt guilty. Not even hours upon meeting someone and she destroys their superhero costume because of her own problems. 

“He doesn’t blame you.”

She frowned and her heart fell for a moment, “He saw you?” 

“No, no. You should see the note.” 

Her heartbeat still hasn’t settled since her dream and the rollercoaster of emotions she’s feeling is not helping her calm it down. With this added impending anxiety over a small note, she felt like her heart will burst. 

Nodding, she wiped her eyes from dried tears and headed down to her work table. Reaching her destination in mind, she saw a sort of bird shaped metal, beneath it was a piece of paper. 

_ Je reviendrai _ . 

The message was in French and Marinette appreciated the fact that he used French to tell him his message. 

_ He’ll be back,  _ her thought chided, a part of her giddy. The question now is when. 

Clutching the hooded cape, Marinette brought it to eye level for examination. There were snot on various parts of the clothing. Some even have the gooey parts. Though the material was black, her dried tears were evident. 

“I should wash this, shouldn’t I?” She announced, asking her fairy friend but already knowing the answer. 

Nodding, Tikki twirled around the fabric. “Oh yes, definitely.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Plagg was pissed. He’s the kwami of bad luck, sure. He expected things not go his way. It’s not even surprising how much things don’t go his way. That doesn’t mean he has to be stuck with a whiny, young, immature  _ kid _ , who doesn’t know the first thing about respect, trust and boundaries though! 

Okay, this Chat Noir wasn’t evil, sure. He’s been with evil Chat’s before and honestly? Plagg would have preferred to stay with them over this kid. The only consolation were the free camembert. 

The black kwami knew that he was mostly selfish. Demanding cheese and such, but he needed that for nutrition and to keep his power going! His power which should be used to balance and protect the world, not for a young  _ boy _ to use to flirt with his partner. 

“Come on, Plagg,” the blondie repeated for the nth time. 

The small spirit internally cursed.  _ Why didn’t he just get someone he was compatible with anyway? Just because this guy is the opposite of the values that the Ladybug Miraculous has doesn’t mean he embodies  _ his  _ values.  _

Turning to the side to fly away from the boy, he spoke. “How many times do I have to say no? It’s not even your turn to patrol. And during the attack yesterday, you  _ weren’t _ there.”

The human rolled his eyes, “Lila needed our help. She was being bullied, I can’t not help a friend in need. You know that, you were there!”

“Ladybug was in need! The akumatized victim was in need.  _ Paris,  _ was in need! And you chose  _ that _ ?” the kwami gestured to the picture of Lila that was dangling from the phone strap on his front shirt pocket. 

Adrien swatted the his tiny arms away. “Ladybug handled it well. And Viperion was there. So were two new heroes.”

Appalled, Plagg stared at the human in shock. 

“I’m only needed in extreme situations anyway, and I always get in the way of Ladybug’s pompousness. Lila was right about that.”

“Lila? Lila was right about  _ Ladybug _ ? She doesn’t even know her!”

“They were best friends, but LB denied it.”

“Because it wasn’t true.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Neither do you!”

By the end of the tirade, Plagg saw something in Adrien’s eyes that was akin to realization. That was when the kwami knew he was no longer in the hands of a good holder. 

“If you don’t want to eat the cheese to recharge, I’ll just do what I want,” the model announced as he shouted. “Plagg, claws out!”

~~~~~~~~~~~

“They’re dead,” Tim’s voice was slightly an octave above his usual, Damian could tell. 

Damian tutted at him, “You’re late.”

The brothers were supposed to meet up separately at the rendezvous point for a much needed patrol when they heard a hijacking of a precious jewelry. Damian got there first, and did his job.  _ He _ was the one who got the job done and  _ Tim _ had to have the right to seem disappointed at his methods? 

“You killed them.” 

Damian would have laughed if he was sure that the older would not panic,  _ but _ he’s had enough of other’s panicking. And he definitely does not want to console a panicking Timothy Drake. “They’re  _ sleeping _ .”

“What, like  _ forever _ ?” 

“Of course not, Drake,” the younger walked towards the safe where the supposed jewel was. “I attacked them in hand to hand combat and injected them with numbing pills that made them sleep. I went through the course of action with the least casualties. In this case, none.” 

The deadpan of his voice must not have been as amusing as it was to him as to the older Robin because he shouted the next second “You have blood on your hands! Literally!”

“So I had to cut someone’s tongue out. He’s not dead.” 

Damian saw the Red Robin massage his forehead and he felt a bit victorious. At least he didn’t have to get yelled at. He hoped it was Todd with him though. He tolerates a bit of maiming unlike most of their batkin.

“Since you’re done here, we have to go.”

The younger Robin only nodded as he decided to leave the safe alone. As they swung above the local streets, they saw hordes of police cars speed over to the pier where the bat boys decided to leave the boat they just saved. 

“Okay, so I only knew about this now.” First of all, from Damian’s experience with Jon, the Titans  _ and _ the batfam, that line  _ never _ ends well. "And I don’t like this as much as you do.”

“Doubt it, now spit it out.” 

Damian was in a hurry after all. He didn’t stock up on Robin costumes but he had enough to last him a few major fights. If they’re going to stay in Paris for a few more months, as planned, he had to get back to the Ladybug girl and get his other cape back. 

Tim whispered, “Bab’s is here in Paris with us.”

Okay, Damian was smart. In fact, he was a genius. Even smarter than Drake, if he may say so himself. He has the skills of all of his brothers and can beat them at it. He knows it for a fact. Basically, Damian can handle the men in the Batfamily. The people he can’t handle are the women. 

Cassandra Cain was ruthless, more so than Jason. Stephanie Brown is unpredictable, especially when provoked. Katherine Kane was an overall menace. And Barbara Gordon? She was hell personified. He feels even his father is afraid of the female bats, but all the female bats revere Barbara. Damian, as much as he hates to admit it, would rather go through the pain of death than be  _ babysitted  _ by Gordon. 

That was when Damian also remembered the original Batgirl’s abilities. As the realization sunk in, he rushed to a local bakery in Paris. 


	5. Chapter 5

Barbara Gordon is a hell of a good hacker. She knows that, her father acknowledges that, hell even Bruce fucking Wayne respects her for that. So it was really oh-so easy for her to do research regarding the renowned, yet mostly undocumented, heroes of Paris. 

“How much for this?” she asked as she pointed at the croissant.

The woman helping her was kind and the man, her husband, looked very normal. They both were, really, but Barbara guessed that this is just a great front for a superhero child. 

After paying for her order, Babs decided to lounge around and stay at a table with her laptop on. She was able to get all the details of all the heroes in Paris, at least those that have been mentioned in Paris’ list of heroes, and so far, she’s most curious about the abilities of a certain Ladybug.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

According to her research, she was able to undo all the damage done by a villain, in this case an akuma, the japanese term for demon. The spotted heroine can also apparently conjure an item that can immediately help her defeat these demons. 

If someone told Barbara Gordon about this story a few years back, when she still had the Batgirl mantle, she would have laughed in that person’s face and asked them what anime’ or cartoon show they were watching because that was just some overpowered kind of ability. 

Now though, with all her experiences with the Birds of Prey, what happened to Jason, Stephanie, to Damian. She can say for sure that this is not the strangest, nor most ludicrous thing she’s seen in a while. Especially ever! 

“Oh, Ladybug?” the woman, most likely the mother of the girl she’s dying to meet, spoke from behind her. 

Barbara made a positive sound to signal a yes. The woman began speaking in a speedy French. She mentioned something about being saved, and true enough, the lady baker, even the normal, buff husband of hers has been a victim of the villain mastermind Hawkmoth already. 

After the woman, Sabine Cheng, if Bab’s researched correctly, spoke a few lines, she must have realized that their customer was not responding back. “English?” the blue haired woman asked. 

“Yes please,” Barbara stated and smiled as best as she could. Befriending an ally’s mother is always a good thing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Tikki, hide!” Marinette startled her partner as they heard the knock on the window from outside. 

She didn’t have to look to her kwami to know if she actually did hide. Marinette knew that Tikki will keep her identity safe for both of them, even to fellow heroes. 

Fixing herself to appear decent, she walked towards the window to her balcony and opened the latch to reveal the caped hero with a different hooded cloak. “You have a second one,” she said in disappointment before she could stop herself. 

“I- I mean.”

“And you’re speaking in English,” he managed. 

Marinette bit her tongue, “Y-yeah, I,” racking her brain and cursing in French, she went with her first thought. “Practicing my English skills for a school performance. Yeah, yeah that.” 

If Mari didn’t know better, she would have thought she made the so called stoic Robin, smile. But of course, that was just a figment of her imagination as the image was dropped to a frown in less than a second. 

“Not that I researched you or anything. So I don’t actually know if you speak English or not. I mean, how could I have?”

“What?” the low baritone asked and Marinette blushed. 

Cowering in embarrassment, the designer buried her face in the new place she “I’m going to shut up now.”

~~~~~~~~

Cute, was the one word that came to Damian’s mind as the girl in front of him stammered. 

The moment he arrived on the rooftop of the Parisian hero, he first made sure that he was not being followed. He cursed to himself when he noticed that the Oracle was already in the bakery below chatting up with the owners. 

If Damian wanted to keep his only step ahead, he had to make sure he got to Mari first and gain her trust. By looking at the blushing girl, he knew it would be easy. 

“How are you?” he asked, testing the waters. 

The girl looked up at him and then at the piece of clothing she was touching. It was a hooded cape. Black, like his, but without the lining. There were some complex embroidery that he can see from the inside. 

Damian wasn’t an idiot, and he definitely was not dense. He may be a bit arrogant though, so he was confident in his question, “Is that mine?”

The girl’s ears turned a darker shade of red and Damian masked his amusement with a frown. “Y-y-yes! I mean, no. I mean, it’s not your cape, but it’s for you. If you’ll take it, I mean.”

Before Damian could realize, he already let a chuckle escape. Dammit mouth, he reprimanded himself internally. “I get what you mean.”

Nodding slowly while still holding the cloth to her face, she pointed to the direction of a clothes hanger. His cape from yesterday was there, hanged and, from the looks of it, being dried. 

“I just washed it so it might not be dry until a few hours unless I use a dryer.” 

“It’s fine, I can return for it next time.” 

The words were out of Damian’s mouth before he can even think of what to properly say. The Robin cursed. He can’t seem to act as he usually does since coming to Paris. Dealing with his mother, the League and the mission of taking down Hawkmoth may be taking a toll on him. 

Or maybe it’s something else entirely, a voice in his head spoke. Damian ignored it as he usually does. 

Ever since he was revived, Damian could hear a voice in his head that claims to be a part of him which he can’t seem to shut up so he decides to tune him it out instead. 

“So can I try it?” 

The pretty bluenette nodded vigorously this time, positioning herself behind Damian. The male turned around for Mari to attach the cape to his back. Tilting his head back, he saw the girl’s face close to his shoulder. Though he knows that it’s impossible, he swears he can feel hear warm breath on her skin. 

He heard his current cloak being unclasped before he saw her fix it and hang it on her own soldier. The intense concentration Damian saw on the eyes and the face of the girl as she let him wear a simple cape made him feel breathless. Her eyes were focused. Her breathing was even. Her cheeks are pale. Her lips are full and the way she nibbles on it every now and then had the ex-assassin gulping. 

Turning around, he cleared his throat and noted one realization to himself. She looks great when concentrated on fashion.

What he will use that knowledge for, Damian wasn’t sure, but he assumes it would come in handy sometime in the future. 

~~~~~~

Barbara left the premises of the bakery as soon as she noticed the shadow of his favorite Demon brat pass by her peripheral vision. 

Treading to a nearby local bench, the redhead made sure no one was around before she opened her computer and accessed the hacked devices she was able to get access to. One of which was a video and audio access to a certain aspiring fashion designer. 

Mentally patting herself on the back, Babs put her headphones on and listened to the conversation as she looked at the video. 

“I get what you mean,” she heard Damian’s voice. He was still dressed as Robin. 

An exchange regarding the Robin cape came up and Barbara took a moment to understand the situation. While doing so, she saw the intent way Damian was looking at the girl while she unclasped the cloak he was currently wearing. 

Barbara smiled, cute, she thought as he looked away. Even without the magnified audio sensors of the device that Damian himself implanted in the room and Barbara is only ‘borrowing’, the Oracle would have still heard the heavy breath Damian let out. 

It’s like watching a cheesy rom com about teenagers, she would have found it repulsive if it wasn’t so sweet that the Damian Wayne was in the specific situation. 

Getting back to her specialty, she observed everything else in the room and checked the past frames of the video on one part of her screen while the actual recording is still ongoing and being shown to her on the other. 

Pulling up older records of the video recorder was a lot of work, and that’s only because, even if Barbara would hate to admit, Damian is a great hacker and encryptor, maybe even better than herself. But of course the first Batgirl would never admit to that out loud. She loved the fact that their youngest feared her somehow. 

Once the red haired woman got access to the old records, she perused through all of them, playing a recording of each hour in different screens, looking at it at once. 

“Bingo!” she sings when she found what she needed. 

An image of a small, red, spotted fairy was zoomed on the screen of the Oracle. Thank god for magic detecting cameras.


	6. Chapter 6

Chloe has had enough for the day. First, she learns that a certain Lila de Rossi tried to get in her daddy’s hotel in the pretense that they were  _ best friends _ when she wasn’t even there and the next, the brunette requested top of the line fashion designs from her mother’s sponsors! Chloe wouldn’t take any more of this. She stormed to where the pretentious bitch was.

“Chloe, Lila’s just doing it because she’s your friend. You’d support her, right?” 

The blonde gasped, swinging her hair back at Sabrina, an old friend turned acquaintance that still follows her, for some reason, when that bitch Lila wasn’t around. “Excuse me?” her voice turned sarcastic. “I did not give her, or anybody for that matter, any permission to use  _ my _ family’s resources. Not you, not Adrien, and especially not  _ her _ .” 

The girl in front of her visibly squirmed and the hotel heiress turned away to continue to the room where Lila was staying. That was when she heard her old friend mutter, “At least Lila’s nicer than you.” 

Okay, Chloe understood she’s been a bitch. Hell, maybe she still is, but her morals have been corrected and she knew when and who to be a bitch with now. Okay, maybe not all the time, but the point is: she’s changed. Her idol said so herself. In fact, from the heroes of Paris, she’s currently second in command since a certain black cat can’t do his job well despite supposedly being one of the best, and the fox illusionist just started acting worse than it’s akuma predecessor: Volpina.

“Listen here, you second rate henchman,” Chloe began as she  _ tried _ to reel her anger in. “If you  _ really _ don’t want to follow me anymore, I don’t care. You think I do?” She laughed sardonically. “When was the last time we had an actual conversation that doesn’t include you talking about your last endeavor with your new so-called friend Lila?” 

The silence was palpable. Chloe saw a few maids hiding on the bend near the elevators, but she couldn’t seem to care. Let them listen. If they want a show, they’ll get a show. 

“You can’t say anything because there are none,” she continued. “Nada, zilch, nothing.” Taking her phone from her pocket this time and dialing a number she knew by heart. After the first ring, she heard a grunt. 

“Miss Bourgeois,” a gruff voice said from the other end of the line. 

“Hi, yes, please ask 4 men up to the penthouse, I need 2 people escorted out.” 

The bee miraculous holder didn’t need to hear a confirmation to her request before she ended the call, she knew she’d get what she wanted. 

“Two?” Realization sunk in on the face of the girl in front of her. “Wait, me too?” 

This time, Chloe released a laugh, “Why, of course dear. You do want to go to your  _ nicer _ friend, right?” Turning around one last time, she left the bob haired girl behind and walked towards their Penthouse where Lila de Rossi is currently staying without  _ her _ permission. The blonde was about to teach the pathological liar to mess around in  _ her _ turf. After all, it was Chloe that was the Queen Bee and no one take that away from her.

~~

“How does it look?” the question confused Marinette for a moment. 

After attaching the cape to the masked crusader, she immediately turned the mirror his way so he can see his own reflection.  _ Yet _ , he wanted to ask her opinion. 

Seeing the end product on the person made Marinette feel proud of herself. If she may say so herself, the cape itself looked lighter and fit his red, black and yellow shades, but she may be a bit biased of her own work and with that thought she looked down. 

“It might not fit you after all,” she said in a small voice, cursing her insecurity. “It’s fine, I’ll just blow dry your cape. 

Slouching, she walked towards the superhero’s cape from last night, grabbed it moved to her desk where she rummaged for a hairdryer. 

Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her and out of reflex, she attacked it and pinned them down. Of course, it was Damian. 

“Marinette?” a shout from below, her mother’s voice, asked. 

Shocked and panicked at the situation, Marinette opened her mouth to try to speak, but her voice failed her and she remembered that if she ever shouted back, her mother would notice the strain in it from all the crying. 

Footsteps started to resound from below and she prepared herself for the worst. 

~~

“ _ I’m fine, maman. I’m sorry. My mannequin fell on the floor _ ,” was what Damian shouted in the girl’s voice and language. 

Flipping them over at the last minute, he saw her start to have an internal panic so the Robin decided to take matters into his own hands and covered her mouth with one palm as he spoke. 

The footsteps stopped and Damian was thankful. “ _ It’s fine maman, no need to visit me. I just need to finish this one more piece _ .” 

The Wayne heir was not sure how their family dynamic was, but he was sure that the female within his arms was well loved by her family judging by the little moments he’s seen from the minute camera he left inside the room and the recorder he attached on the inside of her ear.

In that moment, he immediately remembered the real reason why he was in the room.  _ The camera _ ! 

“ _ If you’re sure, honey _ ,” the woman said from below. “ _ I left you some snacks in the counter, okay _ ?” 

Tightening his grip on the mount of the girl, Damian opened his mouth once more, “ _ Yes, maman! Good night _ !” 

When they heard the footsteps subside, the ex-assassin immediately let go of her and started looking for the camera he planted the night before. 

“Where is it?” he silently asked. 

“Where’s what? And what was that?” her hoarse voice was still strained it was funny, but the curiosity in her question was not one of amazement, but fear so the boy looked at her to explain. 

When his mouth opened, he suddenly understood that he needed to be careful in explaining, or else he might lose her trust. He closed his lips and thinned them before flopping down the floor. “This is going to be a long talk and I’d like to explain everything as truthfully and as completely as I can, so will you allow me to explain?” 

The girl took a moment before she looked up at the ceiling and nodding. Damian figured that that must be where her fairy companion is. The bluenette sat down across him and covered herself with his cape. He felt something akin to what he feels when his father hugs him, Alfred called it happiness but Damian refused to acknowledge it as such, and pushed it down. 

“Okay,” he began, “First things first, please don’t ask any questions while I’m talking. I need to make sure I tell you everything without skipping anything. If you still have questions after, then I’ll answer them truthfully afterwards, okay?” 

The Parisian hero nodded and Damian began. 

“As you may know, I am the current Robin. We were tasked to defeat a certain Hawkmoth, who happens to be a nemesis of yours as well. The Justice League has been informed of your team of heroes and has deemed you unregistered, which, to be fair, was alright considering that they are the Justice League of  _ America _ .” The sarcasm in the last word could not be contained. Damian just really did not understand why they had to know about  _ this _ mission when the area is not part of their jurisdiction anyway. 

When he realized he paused for too long, he muttered a quick apology and continued, “Since I was not sure what type of people the heroes were, I-” 

~~

As Marinette heard the speech the Robin was saying, she suddenly understood why he was there. Providing a loud gasp despite her sore throat, she looked at him, seemingly ridiculed. “You tracked me?” she asked in disbelief. 

The lips of the boy thinned and he scowled, that was all the confirmation Marinette needed. “You  _ tracked _ me?” she felt a sort of anger bubbling up. 

“Questions later,” the guy before her had the gall to say after what he did. 

“No!” she shouted then remembered that her mother may hear them. “No,” she repeated softly, but with as much accusation. “Questions now.”

“I agree, that’s why I will stay here until you’re satisfied.” The statement was said so sincerely that Marinette faltered for a bit. 

Deciding to look above to her miraculous partner, she saw Tikki nod slowly and mouth an “ _ if you want to _ ’ in French. The current Ladybug thought for a moment then took a deep breath. 

“Fine, but only if you do stay until you explain everything.” 

“That won’t be necessary,” a new voice propped up and a person from her window walked in.

Marinette held her earrings out of habit before asking the question, “Who are you?” 

“Nightwing, and you two have to come with me.” 


	7. Chapter 7

Richard “Dick” Grayson knew that he was being overprotective of a certain Damian Wayne. Some people called it a complex, others called it guilt. Dick called it parental instinct, because really? The Robin may be his youngest brother, but that kid was also his first son. He didn’t have to be blood related to feel it in his bones.

When the boy died, Dick felt a part of himself die, too. And when he was cloned, and his body exhumed by Ra’s Al Ghul, the anger he felt was probably as great, if not greater, than what Bruce felt. 

The first Boy Wonder understood the fact that Bruce and Damian had a bond that Dick can never replace, and he’s not going to want to replace that. He can’t take be a Bruce to Damian and a Damian to Bruce, but he was still Bruce’s first Robin and Damian’s first Batman so he at least thought he could still act as so. 

He was wrong. 

When he heard the current Batman tell him that he couldn’t go to Damain’s side knowing that the child’s mother was there, Dick grew furious because as much as he respected the Man in the Cowl, he was also an independent hero of his own. With his own multimillion company and backing. He no longer needed to follow the orders of a certain Bat. So he sneaked away to go to Paris on his own. 

Barbara, being her, knew of the situation as when he got off his plane, he received a message on his device providing a location and stating that he should wear his costume. 

At present time, Nightwing stood on the balcony of a local Parisian bakery that was the place pinpointed by his tracking device. 

“Are you sure this is the place?” he whispered in the air, knowing that the first Batgirl could hear him from their communication device. 

Despite the initial silence, Dick knew that the redhead was rolling her eyes. “Yes, _ Nightwing _. I’m sure.”

The acrobat walked silently towards the glass window that separated the inside of the house to the outside. Seeing that the window was ajar, Dick peeked inside and saw Damian on the floor, sat across a girl who was holding the Robin’s beloved cape. He tried to listen in.

“I deserve to know everything,” a silent plea from the small figure across the young ex-assassin and he saw the boy slightly flinch. Dick would have rescued him if not for the immediate response of the young male. 

“I agree, that’s why I will stay here until you’re satisfied.”

The first thing that shocked Dick was the fact that Damian, as in _ the _ Damian Wayne, was actually showing _ patience _ about something else besides attacking an enemy. The last time the eldest Robin saw his youngest counterpart like that was with not-so-young anymore, Jonathan Kent. 

“Fine, but only if you do stay until you explain everything,” the girl’s voice spoke once again and he decided to butt in at the time. They had no time to waste. 

“That won’t be necessary.”

The girl looked at him, scared and clasping her ears. Probably a habit? He’s not sure yet, but he didn’t need to find out. Not even when Dick always wants to know more about their baby brat’s friends. 

The blue haired girl asked who he was and he smiled in the most charming way he can, the way he smiles when charming women. It always works. “Nightwing.” 

The female looked like she wanted to puke. That wasn’t the usual reaction he got. 

  


~~

Damian was pissed. 

When he arrived at a certain Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s bakery that night, he thought he would remove the tracking devices, disable the planted recording devices and get his cape. That’s it. So when they meet when the girl was the Paris heroine Ladybug, he can pretend he never knew her and all that. 

Ever since Barbara ‘I am the best hacker in the world so you should bow down to me’ Gordon arrived in Paris, all of his plans have gone south. He was supposed to gain the Parisian heroine’s trust dammit! How was he supposed to do that when there will be others vying for her attention now? 

Damian tutted. 

Grayson arrived in the middle of his and Ladybug’s conversation and they are currently on the way to who knows where. Damian doesn’t that’s for sure, and he doesn’t like not knowing. 

“Nice weather, huh?” the eldest of the three spoke in a forced gleeful voice that made Damian want to gut the man. He understood the notion of people wanting to - so called - ‘lighten up the mood’, but this is not one of those moments. Definitely not. 

The girl remained silent and Damian noted the way she watched Nightwing and the surrounding as if to assess the situation. He was glad that she agreed to come with them willingly because if she didn’t want to go, he would have stayed behind to explain himself and not even Nightwing, the dick, can stop him.

Although, Damian was still curious as to _ why. _ Why did she go with them?

“Depends on who you ask,” the soft voice of the female said. 

Dick gave out a happy sound as he landed on top of one of the buildings, “And for you?”

Another few seconds of silence came and it made Damian start to physically feel the tension and - what was the term? - awkward atmosphere. 

“Well!” the eldest male began and for the first time, Damian was thankful for his constant chatterbox attitude and happy demeanor. “I’m feeling that it’s a very nice weather. Kind of romantic even.” The boy saw Nightwing wink at the girl as he heard the suggestive implication of what he had said. 

A small growl escaped him. Why was he just thanking him for his attitude again? Damian takes it all back. Without thinking of his actions, he unpacked one of the capes that was carefully folded in his utility belt and sent it towards the direction of the bug hero. This covered her view of the first Robin. 

“Whoa!” she heard her say as she stumbled a bit on her footing, but immediately regained herself. She removed the cape from over her and Damian was thankful that Dick wasn’t farther away, meaning Damian can arrive beside the girl faster. 

“Wear that on your shoulder. It’s cold.” And it really was. All Damian was concerned about was the fact that their only lead, and possibly their greatest ally, in defeating Hawk Moth is the person with them. He has to make sure that they were at peak condition. 

Thankfully, despite staring at him then at his extra cape - the spare one that she didn’t make because that one that she did make was Damian’s now and _ he _ has to be the first one to wear it - for so long, she put it over her shoulders and clasped them around her neck. 

Damian exhaled a deep breath, not remembering the fact that he held it in the first place, and looked back at the Nightwing. The man was staring back, mouth ajar and a seemingly confused frown on his face. 

“Nightwing,” he tried to catch the man’s attention and, in return, his adoptive brother visibly shook himself. 

“Oh, yeah. Uh, here,” the older vigilante pointed out to their destination and Damian saw the outline of the Palace of Versailles. 

_ Of course, why the hell not? _ He asked himself sarcastically as he remembered what his family is actually capable of in the first place. 

~~

Marinette did not condone any criminal act. No matter how small or large. At least she’s not supposed to. Yet here she is following 2 famous heroes from the US as they trespass in one of, what’s supposed to be, the most heavily guarded places in Paris and also a top tourist attraction! 

“_Might as well start off my career as a villain here_,” she accidentally slipped out, as a merry joke to herself, and covered her mouth as soon as it did. It was spoken in French, but she knew well that they could understand her anyway. At least Robin could. They walked into an area that Marinette was not familiar with and now they were progressing along a dark path. 

The older man, Nightwing, chuckled as Robin smiled. Mari felt her face flush as she stopped her steps. “I mean- um. I didn’t mean that. Like-” 

“Nah, we get it,” the guy he just met, Nightwing, tried to assure her as he continued to walk, this time opening a door by pressing on one of the bricks. “I mean, I’d want to be a villain too if it wasn’t so pathetic.” 

Mari saw red at first. A warm, fiery red in the room they were about to enter. That’s when she started to look around her surroundings once more, cursing herself from stopping to do so when Robin gave her his cape. 

“When did we enter a secret passageway?” she asked, genuinely curious how she missed it. Mari entered the room with one of the boys in front of him and the other behind. 

“There’s a reason why it’s a secret, spotty,” Nightwing said as he gave her a sly smile. 

The brick door behind them was closed harshly making the entire room shake. Looking at the other hero behind her, she forced a stoic face to let him know that she was still, at most, distrustful of him. He did deceive her and made her believe that he was interested in, well, her. 

_ Long shot _, the voice of Lila seemed to haunt her even if Mari knew that her nemesis never said those words. 

“She’s a Ladybug, not a dog,” the defensive tone of the Robin made Marinette fight of the blood rushing to her cheeks. She had to remember that the guy was only interested in her because she was Ladybug. 

_ If you didn’t have those earrings, you’re nothing, _ the voice started to creep at her, sounding less like Lila and more like herself. Mari shook herself. She was in the middle of a mission! Making sure that the American heroes know about the situation in Paris. No more, no less. She had no time for other things. 

Trying to maintain her calm, she was about to speak up when an all too familiar voice came from an entrance to another room. 

“Marinette, my dear!” 

Looking at the small man, Mari’s eyes grew wide in shock. “Master Fu!”


	8. Chapter 8

“Master Fu!” 

In all the years of Wang Fu’s life, he has seen only one Ladybug in the flesh, the person who saved her as a child in China before he was trained to be a Guardian. Looking at the girl in front of his old self right now, he was reminded just how strong Ladybug’s are. Since their good luck is used to defeat villains and protect people, they barely have enough luck left for themselves. 

“My girl, I am glad you arrived.” And he really was. When he was contacted by someone he never expected to see again, at least not in this lifetime, he immediately grabbed at the opportunity. And here he was. “Come, we have much to discuss.” 

Fu led the blue haired girl to another room. As part of the discussed plan he had with a wise girl named Barbara Gordon and his Marianne, he agreed that the only way to take down Hawk Moth was to utilize the usage of the other miraculouses. It was now or never, especially when he was told that other people, specifically a group of assassins, were being involved. 

“Oh, you’re here!” the red haired woman, who reunited her with his Marianne spoke. “Barbara, but you can call me Babs. Nice to meet you.” 

Marinette looked confused, but took the extended arm and introduced herself. 

“I’ll leave her to you, Barbara.” 

“Thanks, Mister Fu.” 

Not forgetting to plant a kiss on the forehead of Marianne and asking her to explain the situation to the youngest female in the room, as he explained it to her before and to Barbara and Timothy Drake a while ago, he left the room to speak with the people he was tasked to explain the situation to. 

The two boys were wearing such restricting clothing, Fu had to laugh. He opened another door to where their other brother was, Fu asked them to strip, “We better have you dress more comfortably. We have a long talk ahead of us.”

~~

Marinette looked at the pretty redhead, as the elder female moved back to her desk. 

“So, sit down. You don’t need to worry, I won’t bite you,” she looked at Marianne and Marinette followed her eyes. “Miss Marianne, would you like more tea?”

“I’m fine, dear. Thank you.” 

“How about you, Mari? Tea?”

Shaking her head, she frowned and looked down before realizing that her real name was called. 

“You know me?” she asked. 

“Well, yeah. Mister Fu told me all about you! Well, not really you, yourself. I knew that on my own. More of like your abilities,” Barbara - Babs- took a bite of a sandwich on her table. “Oh, you can detransform, you know,” 

“I- I can?” 

“Yeah, absolutely. It’s better really since we also need Tikki to be aware of this situation.” 

Marinette choked on her own spit. “You know about T-Tikki?” 

The patient smile given to Marinette by Barbara was one that made Marinette want to believe everything the other woman said. 

“I’m a superhero, too. I know about confidentiality. Come, sit next to me, I need to explain the situation and the plan.” 

Contemplating a moment more, Mari looked at the eldest woman in the room, the lover of her Master Fu gave her a nod and a small smile as she sipped her tea, the current Ladybug stood in position and uttered the words to detransform. 

“Tikki, spots off.” The room was enveloped in pink light. 

~~

Damian was irritated, to say the least.  _ Why does Gordon have to be the one to explain to Mari? Why can’t she explain things to  _ him _ too? Why does it have to be an old man who he doesn’t know? What is this, boys talk? _

“What do you think happened?” Nightwing asked.

Damian looked at the man with a neutral expression then looked back at the direction of the small, asian grandfather. “I arrived at the same time as you, Grayson. I didn’t know that you’d arrive. I think it’s suffice to say that  _ I _ should be the one asking that question and not you.”

When the old man came back, he offered them a smile. “Come along, children.” He walked to the other side of the room and opened another secret door. 

Damian didn’t  _ have _ to follow. Not really. He didn’t care if he wasn’t updated. He could override Barbara’s hack, get the information from what she saw PLUS the information she doesn’t know yet. Such as the goal of his birth giver. 

But, Damian didn’t like the fact that he had to leave the Ladybug hero with the others. She has too much information she can give that he’s not willing to miss out on any information. 

_ Is that how you convince yourself? _ Damian willed his mind to shut up. 

When the three males entered a new room, Damian saw Timothy Drake with a very, very familiar boy. 

“Robin!” the kid’s face lit up and Damian couldn’t help but feel relief after seeing his old partner.

  
“ _ Kent _ , what in hell’s name are you doing here?” 


	9. Chapter 9

Jon thought it was hilarious. It’s been 3 hours since he’s been monitoring Damian’s heartbeat, and all he understood was that his friend was  _ definitely _ crushing on the Parisian hero called Ladybug. 

When he was called by the Oracle, the first thought Jon had was that Robin was in trouble and was just too stubborn to ask for Jon for help. Well, that wasn’t exactly what was happening, but it was close anyway. He was glad to help Damian in any way, especially since he’s still not used to the new body being on Earth and he knew that his best friend was someone who can help him acclimatize enough without overexerting himself. 

Master Fu, as the old man in the red Hawaiian shirt introduced himself, explained the basic history of the Miraculouses to them. Jon wasn’t really processing much of the information, he knew that was not his strong suit, but he understood enough. 

People who focus on negative emotions can receive abilities provided by a supervillain. The League of Assassins are involved with the said supervillain. Talia Al Ghul has received some sort of abilities they do not know of yet. And an important ring, from the cat superhero, is missing and can’t be contacted.

Basically, Ladybug, good. Hawkmoth, bad. Black Cat, missing. 

“Stop thinking, Kent.” Superboy missed that reprimanding voice. 

Master Fu just finished discussing what he needed to discuss and is now asking for help in spreading them to the needed holders. The choker to a Kagami Tsurugi. A hair brooch to a Chloe Bor- _ what? _ \- something. He can’t be bothered to pronounce that. And another girl to be given a necklace. He was tasked with not delivery though, but instead a retrieval. He needed to get a Luka Cou-  _ why did French people have to have complicated names? _

“I said stop,” the maskless Robin in costume said. “You’re bothering me.” 

“What are you doing anyway?” Jon asked instead, momentarily forgetting what he needed to do until they all go out at the same time. 

Damian remained silent, so Jon moved closer to his old partner and saw him doing something on his computer. “Coding or hacking?” 

Again, no response. But his question was answered anyway when he saw the screen show a popup of a video. Or, more like, an ongoing recording of what was happening on the room where the females were. 

“You know Babs will kill you, right?” 

The Robin tutted. “She won’t know.”

“Are you afraid she’ll interrogate your girlfriend?” It was supposed to be a teasing question. Something to chide Damian so Jon can see him blush and probably deny it. 

But of course, Damian wouldn’t be affected. “Don’t be ridiculous.” 

Damian’s heartbeat was quickening and beating hard. His breathing was stable though. Looking at how serious the Robin was on the screen, as if scrutinizing every detail, Jon was definitely feeling weird vibes. What’s it called? When like fictional characters feel when they know that there’s  _ something _ . 

Oh! Gut feeling. Yes, that was was Jon was having. He was having a gut feeling. He hoped he wasn’t about to make a mistake with the question he’ll ask just for his own curiosity and a mere gut feeling. 

“Damian?” 

The Robin was silent, but the Superboy knew that the other kid was listening. 

“You know you like her, right?” 

There was another initial quiet that happened before the storm called Damian Wayne entered. “ _ Excuse me _ ?” his tone was accusatory. 

“I m-mean. Of course not. It’s just,” he decided to cut himself off before he could say anymore, but the Teen Titan leader refused. 

“Just, what Kent? Stop mumbling.” 

Jonathan can still feel the heated glare towards him and even if Jon was sure that the other guy wasn’t Kryptonian, he was still scared that lasers will come out. He silently wished that the older males didn’t leave for their own businesses at that time. 

“Your heartbeat, your breathing, that habit you have when you’re embarrassed, the way you look at her even through a computer screen. The actions you did for her that I heard from Babs. What Dick said he saw you doing. I’m just-”

The young Kent looked at the other boy first before thinking if he should continue. Jon decided not to when he saw Damian’s reaction. 

The ex-assassin looked at him with an incredulous expression. One of his hands over his left chest and the other covering his mouth, his expression changed from one of incredulity to one of shock. 

The next moment he knew, Jon was alone in the room and Damian practically flew to the exit. Jon now wondered if he should have spoken at all. 

~~

Marinette, for the first time in her life, silently wished that he could have a big sister. The discussion with Barbara and the occasional offering of correction by Marianne, made her up to date with what was happening. 

In the past few days, she’s been in too deep of her sadness that a whole group of assassins - a league, as Babs called it - has lurked in the shadows of Paris. Tikki helped her maintain her emotions and composure, but the redhead moved out of her wheelchair and beside her before asking her to just let her frustrations go. 

_ Contrary to popular belief, bottling up your emotions  _ prior _ to a mission will jeopardize it, _ was what the French girl was told. Marianne seemed to agree as the old woman joined in, saying,  _ Take it from two people who know that all too well. _

So that was what she did throughout the night. She cried, let her frustrations out, drank tea, had her hair styled by Marianne and had Barbara tell stories of her time as the first Batgirl. For the first time in days, Marinette felt absolutely, genuinely, one hundred percent  _ okay _ . She didn’t feel great, no. But her breathing felt light, her mind was cleared and she was laughing. And that’s when she realized that  _ this _ is what a team should be.  _ This _ is what it felt like to have friends. 

Mari has never felt happier before impending doom before. 

~~

Damian never spoke to that voice in his mind that always interrupted him. He shut it down once. It gave great quips at times, but they were distracting at best. 

Now, Damian had no one to discuss the current situation he is in. Going back to Jon was an act that even he deems embarrassing, so he won’t go back there until he’s sorted this out. Dick was not even an option and the current Robin would rather  _ die _ than talk feelings with Tim Drake. There was the option of the old man, but Damian wasn’t desperate enough to ask a total stranger. Barbara was busy with- 

The youngest Wayne shook his head. Barbara was  _ just _ busy. Yeah. 

_ With your girl? _

“Shut up!” 

The Wayne heir was aware that he shouted his response, but really. With that voice in his voice, he needed to know the distinction between himself and his head. 

_ I am you. _

Damian didn’t pay attention to that. 

_ I am you. You are me. Gift from the gods, you could say.  _

He didn’t like gifts. In fact, there was a moment in time that he abhorred it. When every box you open could be a bomb you need to diffuse or contains a monster you need to defeat, Damian was taught to hate gifts. To not trust them. 

_ Yet you accepted a hand made cape from a girl you barely knew? _

It sounded like a question, but it felt like a statement. Damian argued that it would be impolite to decline. 

_ You never had a problem declining others' requests before.  _

“That’s different!” 

_ How? _

How indeed? Damian looked back to what Jon had said. The Superboy wouldn’t lie to his own vitals would he? He didn’t need to hear the other voice to know that the answer is no. 

Putting a hand over his chest, he calmed himself down. When he closed his eyes to do so, the first thing that came to mind was the image of a blue haired designer. Opening his eyes, the realization sunk in. 

  
_ Told you so _ . 


	10. Chapter 10

If you told Damian Wayne, expert swordsman, ex assassin, born genius and master martial artist, that he was going to fall in love with someone, while in  _ Paris _ no less, he’d have laughed at you internally as he skinned you alive. 

_ Now _ , Damian doesn’t even know how he should act in front of Marinette anymore. 

“You alright, Robin?” the girl he was just thinking about, appeared in front of him. In civilian form no less! 

“Marinette,” the whisper was soft, but the way her name rolled in his tongue brought an unknown kind of pleasure to him. He wanted to keep saying it, so he repeated. “Marinette.” 

The girl smiled at him and there was a glint in her eyes that he could not pinpoint. It knocked Damian out of breath. “Yes, that is my name,” she said then quirked her brow. “Pity I don’t know yours.”

“Damian,” his answer was immediate. As a former assassin, he knew the repercussions of providing your real name to someone. It meant trust. A double edged sword that could usually get you and those who are with you, dead. For Damian though, death doesn’t seem too bad, if his last moments were with someone he loved. “Wayne,” he ended with good measure as he extended his hand. 

“Nice to meet you Damian Wayne.” The giggle was unnecessary, and if Damian was being introduced with someone else who did that, he’d have scowled at them, but in this case, a smile formed on his lips. The boy touched his mouth at the sensation of the action. 

As their hands met for a shake, he saw something that caught his eye. Cuts on her wrist. He wondered why he never noticed before. Maybe he wasn’t as hyper aware of everything about the girl as he was now, but he internally cursed himself for not paying enough attention. 

He stared at the scars and the Parisian heroine immediately removed her hand from his as if scorched, before pulling at her sleeves to cover her wrists. 

“Sorry for that,” she said, as if she had something to actually apologize for. “I’m just clumsy sometimes. Really. It’s nothing.” 

Damian knew that they were excuses, but asking for more information would let her relive moments she may not want to think about. He didn’t think of his next actions, as always. It’s becoming a habit when the fashion designer was involved. 

The Wayne heir unclasped his current cape and offered it to her before removing his utility belt and stripping the top part of his superhero gear - he refuses to call it a costume, he’s not a child.

“Umm, wh-what are you d-doing?” she asked, her face flaming red as she fidgeted and looked away. 

Under the moonlight, the capeless Robin waited for blue haired female to look at him fully. When she did, the gasp he heard from her mouth was undiscernable.

Her eyes gazed at his body, full of scars from his past. She saw her hand try to reach out and touch, but it stopped. Looking at her face, Damian saw the hesitation. Silently, he held her wrist and guided her palm towards one of his newer scars. The one he got with a recent encounter with the League. 

“Whe- How?” the light touches the Ladybug gave him made Damian’s heart clench everytime. 

“I was trained as an assassin since birth,” he opened up, not wanting to keep anything from her. “And even after taking the mantle of Robin, scars have been a daily occurence.” 

Her fingers trailed over an old injury. A cut given to him by his late maternal grandfather. The Demon Ra’s al Ghul. Her eyes then trailed towards his torso, touching every small cut and shadow of a bruise he’s had. The raven haired boy couldn’t see her expression as she looked down, but when her gaze shot up, water was forming in her eyes. Damian couldn’t help but touch her cheeks and wipe the forming tears away. 

“You have so much.” 

“And I’m not ashamed of them.” It was the truth. “You shouldn’t be, too.” 

The girl removed herself from his touch and wiped her eyes. Taking a step back, she bowed slightly with her hands in front of her, right hand clenched and left palm around her other hand. “I’m sorry for judging you.” Damian was confused. Why was she bending over for an apology Damian doesn’t know why he deserves? 

“What I did was wrong and I should not have judged your actions. I know that even as heroes, we have been brought up and trained differently so I understand what you did and why you did it. If I were in your position I would have done the same thing. I hope you can -” 

Damian didn’t let her finish her speech. Admittedly, he would have stopped it earlier if he wasn’t so shocked and confused as to why she was apologizing in the first place. 

“And I would have reacted worse if I was in your position,” was what he said to cut her off. 

The bluenette looked at him and frowned as she straightened her back. “Let me apologize.” 

The pout she made made Damian chuckle. “No.” 

There was silence afterwards, but it was a comfortable one. Before they both knew it, they were already grinning at each other. Suddenly a gust of wind swept through them, taking some of Damian’s clothes with it. The male picked all of it up and the girl began to help him. 

When they were at the last article of his suit, his utility belt, their hands touched. Like a scene from the movies, they both pulled away as Damian grabbed it at the last moment.

Surprisingly, the silence between them remained unawkward. Damian was waiting for  _ something _ . He wasn’t sure what, really, but when Marinette spoke, he immediately understood. “C-Can I-” she paused and Damian closed their small distance and held her hand to squeeze it and urge her to go on. “Can I continue?” 

Damian nodded. 

~~

Marinette’s heart clenched. How did someone so young and so heroic be so scarred? 

As she continued to trace Robin - no, Damian’s - old injuries, she tried to imagine how much pain he must have endured and compared that to her own suffering. 

_ Pathetic _ , she heard Lila’s voice again but tried to push it down to focus on the man in front of her. 

“Marinette?” 

His voice was melodious under the moonlight. Marinette hummed in response so he could continue. 

“Would you mind listening to me for a moment?” 

She looked at his face and saw a sort of resolution in them. Mari’s anxiety peaked and she thought of all the things she did to him that night. The ground began to shake and her sight started to blur. 

Before anything could get worse, she felt a hand on hers. “It’s fine, it’s about me. Can you please listen?”

Mari was skeptical, but leveled her breathing. 

“Thank you,” she heard him say. Mari’s heartbeat continued to beat harder. 

“Let’s sit down first,” he sat on the ground and offered the space parallel to him. His clothes were draped over his lower half. Mari sat on the ground, still obviously nervous, her hands were shaking as millions of thoughts ran on her head. “Thank you.”

“I know I promised to explain things to you, but I’m sure Barbara Gordon has already done that.” Mari nodded. “Still, I want to make sure that everything is clarified between us. It has come to my attention that I have-” he hesitated and Mari bit her lip in fear. “That I hold, romantic feelings for you.” 

Mari wasn’t able to process the words at once, but she did feel Damian touch her hand and put it over his naked chest. She felt his heartbeat. 

“I understand that this may be an unusual proposition, and I refuse to force you into anything right now knowing your situation despite not having all the details. I just want you to know that after this ordeal.” He took a deep breath and the baker felt that under her touch. “I will be courting you.” 

That was when the words started to sink in. She gasped, “You  _ like _ me?” 

Robin opened his mouth to answer, but a different voice resounded through the night. “Good news! They’re  _ not  _ having sex!” 

“Dammit, Grayson!” 

~~

The dark room illuminated as Talia al Ghul arrived to meet her current partner. 

“Agreste,” she mused. 

“Please,” the man responded, his cane in front of him as he leaned on a table. “In this form, I prefer the term Hawkmoth.”

Talia, still in her correct mind despite the powers given to her, smiled. She knew how to play the game and win it. “Hawkmoth, then. I know who she is. Now we only need the boy.” 

“That was fast.” The admission made Talia smile. 

“Of course, with the powers you’ve provided me, it was only natural that I was able to find her right away.” And that was the truth. 

Teaming up with Hawkmoth to get what she wanted was easy. When she heard of rumors around the League about heroes and villains in Paris, she immediately had it investigated and what she learned was priceless. 

Jewelries with the power of granting anyone their wishes was something  _ a lot _ better than the Lazarus pit and Talia al Ghul  _ must _ get her hands on it. During her investigation, she was able to observe the usual people involved and the ones being villainized, or in Parisian terms, akumatized. 

When she finally got in contact with Hawkmoth, she offered him help which he continuously rejected until recently. When he learned of her standing as the new leader of the League of Assassins. 

They devised a plan to get all the magical jewelries in existence, especially the Ladybug and Cat one to have the power to change reality itself. The plan they devised consisted of providing her abilities to control someone’s feelings. The next step of their plan was just to find someone who they can control. 

And the best candidate came knocking on her door, in the form of his son, who escaped his father’s grasp. The plan was set in motion. 

“Are you sure that the girl is the one? That she is Ladybug?”

Talia wanted to scoff, but she couldn’t afford to lose their partnership, at least not yet. “Of course it is,” she assured. “My son is in love with her and that’s how I made it so.” 

“Good, that’s good. Wouldn’t your son hate you for getting him involved in this?” The question wasn’t because the man was worried for her, she’s sure. Maybe he asked it to spite her. But Talia knew her own flesh and blood. 

“He’ll forgive me once I reverse the effects. Just because I made him fall in love with the Ladybug heroine of Paris doesn’t mean I can’t make him fall out of it.” 


	11. Chapter 11

Damian hates his family. His mother is an assassin and currently leads one of the biggest groups of killers in the world. His grandfather on his mother’s side was literally dubbed as a demon on earth. His father was a walking, talking pile of righteous morality. His eldest adoptive brother is a certified idiot. The second eldest, a psychotic murderer. His cousin, a maniac. And the third brother was sociopathic asshole. 

Admittedly, Damian was all of those. Maybe not all, but he’ll take most of it. One thing Damian is not though, that his entire family collectively is, would be nosy. He wouldn’t barge in the middle of a date -  _ conversation _ , they were just talking, for now. - and say such embarrassing things that are just  _ wrong _ . He definitely would not assume that any of his family were having intercourse just because they’re alone and one of them is topless. 

Basically? Damian wouldn’t be a dick like, well, Dick.

“Do you know what to do during a relationship?” Tim asked, seemingly frantic. He’s been holding a device, as if he was searching the internet for  _ things _ for some time now. 

Marinette was taken by Jon and Gordon to a different room. They even gave her a blanket as if she was attacked or something. He was confessing his love dammit! He didn’t assault her! He would never. 

“Bruce is going to kill us,” the eldest of his adoptive brothers said as he paced. “You left Gotham dark and broody. You’re only past time were killing people and now you’re _ in love _ ? And  _ pure _ ?” The last word was choked out, Damian thought for a moment if there were tears about to come out. 

“Stop being so dramatic, Grayson,” Damian rolled his eyes. He then looked straight at the open doorway separating him and his angel. 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I aren’t in a relationship as of the moment, but I would like to court her once this problem in Paris is resolved. I don’t think she deserves to have someone forcing themselves on her right now with everything going on. This is none of any of your businesses. I want to do things right.”  _ For once in my life _ .

There was a silence that settled after his speech. Damian knew he was heard by the girl, he just wanted her to understand his feelings and not pressure her into anything. He understood the irony of it by saying what he just said out loud, so he may need to say it better in a more  _ private  _ situation, but this is the best he can do with the crowd they have. 

A few moments later, he felt one end of Tim Drake’s Bo staff hit his head. 

“What the fu- what was  _ that  _ for?”

Drake visibly shook his head and pinched his cheeks. “I just wanted to make sure you’re real.”

“He could be a clone again,” Barbara shouted from the other room, laughter in her voice. 

“Who are you and what have you done to our Damian?”

“Now, now children,” it was Master Fu. “Leave the young ones alone.”

“Fu is right, goodness knows we were all young at some point.” 

The old couple smiled at each other, and usually Damian would scowl or even gag. This time, his mouth muscles turned upward and looked at the two in a new light. “Thank you.” 

This time he felt something coming his way and Damian caught a series of Richard Grayson’s shurikens in between his fingers. “Are you trying to kill m- wait, are you crying?”

The Nightwing superhero hiccuped as he wiped his tears, “I just can’t believe our baby is growing up.” he saw the man moving towards him and Damian scooted away. 

“Wipe the snot off your face, Grayson.” The feeling of an adult hugging him whilst crying and with snot falling his nose was not a pleasurable experience. “Drake, help me! Are you actually recording this shit? Get him away!”

Damian hates his family. 

~~

Felix Agreste hates his luck. 

Why, you ask? 

Good question! Well, since he was a child, his father has not been in the picture while his mother was a neglectful drug addict. ‘Was’ being the key term here as his mother died a few years back due to overdose. 

He lived alone for 2 years, juggling 3 jobs as he went to school. And he was great for that time! Until, of course, he was discovered by his father’s relatives. 

Now, Felix didn’t really want to be involved with them. First of all, his 18th birthday is 2 months away. He’s lived without a guardian for 2 years. Second, he knew the implications of being with the father side of his family. It meant being a lackey to a family he knew was the reason why his parents had to leave each other in the first place. 

He didn’t hate them for that though, he was just spiteful. I mean, he knows his father is dead. After all, who doesn’t know the Agreste name? Whenever he was asked about it, he denies the connection to it so he can move on. He didn’t really like being connected to a famous family that barely showed themselves in public. The only part of the family that do show themselves, the father and son duo, are both pretentious. 

“Nathalie, has my brother’s son settled in?” the grey haired, so-called fashion designer, with the terrible fashion sense -  _ seriously, who wears striped neckties in their everyday lives? And white and red? Is he auditioning for a modernized version of Santa Claus’ villainous cousin? _ \- spoke as the door to his office opened. 

Felix hid himself in a corner, making sure he won’t be heard or seen. He knew that despite the fact that he was allowed to roam around the house, he wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the man’s workshop. He really didn’t want to meet his paternal uncle, much less the wrath of the old coon, so he’ll hide for now. 

“He’s doing well. We’ll be enrolling him to one of the local schools in a few days once his previous records gets sent to us.” It was the secretary. Felix couldn’t see what they were doing 

“That’s good, and make sure he gets into boarding school, we don’t need an extra pair of eyes here who can catch us.” 

“Of course.” 

Felix, heard some turning and he controlled his breath to make sure that they can’t find him if they were looking. Peeping slightly to check what they were doing, he saw his uncle push a few buttons being pushed from behind a large portrait of a blonde woman, he assumed to be his uncle’s late wife, and immediately sees them lowered down to who knows where. 

‘ _ What the fuck? _ ’ was the only thing that came into his mind at that moment before he rushed off the room to contemplate on his life. 

Felix  _ really _ hates this luck. 

~~

Marinette hates herself. 

There she was, a room full of superheroes and the only thought in her mind is the confession of a certain Damian Wayne half an hour before. 

“Are you alright?” the voice of a man in a blue-white-red get up said. He was floating above ground which barely shocked her as she grew slightly accustomed to weird stuff lately. He obviously has superpowers though, with the flying and all. 

“Yes, thank you.” 

“Kent, I swear to your father, I’ll roast you if you touch her.”

“Aww, Dami, you know your insults barely affect me.”

“What?”

A friendly banter between both boys continued and Mari found herself smiling. Shocked, she held her mouth and stopped herself. She didn’t deserve to smile. 

Feeling a hand over her shoulder, she looked up and saw the friendly touch of Barbara Gordon. Guiltily, Marinette looked away. 

“Damian’s not a bad guy,” the whisper was light. Marinette second guessed if it was even spoken. “I’m not asking you to give him a chance. In fact, don’t. Not until you’re ready. And if he crosses your boundaries?” There was a squeeze on her shoulders and she looked at the red haired woman once again. “Let me know and I’ll grill him for you.”

Ever since she became Ladybug, Marinette always thought that she always needed to save everyone. Her parent’s bakery, if it ever failed. Her friends from a conniving person. The citizens of Paris from Hawk Moth. And everytime she wanted to do something for herself, it never went well in the long run. 

This time, seeing the relationship of the group of superheroes in front of her, with Master Fu, and the kwamis together in their dome, safe. She started to see that  _ this _ is what a group of superheroes should be like. Trusting each other. Laughing together. Teasing one another. This is what makes them a family. 

Now, looking back at what he had before with Chat Noir and the rest, she was sorry for not trusting them enough. She just hopes that she can make up for everything and make their group even half as friendly as the bunch in front of her. 

Leaning towards the woman beside her, Marinette continued to watch the group in front of her. Tim Drake, Richard Grayson, Jonathan Kent and Damian were all having fun. Master Fu and Marianne were on another couch on the side, leaning against each other and the kwamis were all in their boxes. 

Despite the noise and hustle, Marinette felt that she belonged. 

Marinette loved this place. 


	12. Chapter 12

When he heard from Talia al Ghul that she had found  _ and _ captured Chat Noir, Gabriel was ecstatic! He immediately left his work and ordered Natalie to go to the personal yacht of their  _ partner _ . 

No matter how temporary, Gabriel knew that this has been the best person he’s akumatized yet. Even with that Lila de Rossi in the list and that girl had  _ so much _ potential to be his successor. 

“We’re here,” Nathalie announced as the car stopped. Gabriel nodded and gave an approving sound as he walked the slope towards the aquatic vessel. 

“Finally, I have waited so long,” and Gabriel was not exaggerating. It’s been five long years since he’d lost his Emilie, and he’s finally so near to resurrecting her. So  _ near _ .

The door to the inside of the yacht was opened and they were led to some sort of spacious living room inside the place. A cage was placed in the middle of the room and Talia al Ghul was drinking some sort of, Gabriel assumed, alcoholic beverage, wearing nothing but a robe. The latter was proven by the protruding nipples. 

If Gabriel wasn’t a loyal man to his deceased wife, he would have used the demoness in other terms, too. But he’s a man of principle. His family always comes first.  _ Always _ . 

Walking towards the woman and the cage, he saw a young man inside. “Chat Noir,” he mentioned, his face was unmasked without his miraculous. It didn’t matter, he wanted the boy to know who brought him to his demise. 

The Cat Hero was laid on the ground, face first and groaning. When Gabriel was about to touch inside, a spark of electricity sparked. “Careful,” he heard the voice of the Demon’s daughter.

“That’s cage is made of both copper and lead. Heavy and is conducive to electricity.” 

Gabriel gave an understanding nod. No wonder the Cat Brat was helpless. “We need his ring though,” looking at the red haired woman on the couch, he was offered a seat. 

“Easy,” a wave of her hand and the cage shattered, the boy inside was still staggering to get up. 

Gabriel didn’t take the offered seat, instead, he rushed to the hero to grab at the ring. 

“So hasty,” he heard the Demon’s daughter say, the slight echo of her voice, probably coming from the glass she was drinking from. 

“You were not the one waiting for five years for this,” Gabriel spat as he held the hand of the cat hero. He could not believe the Miraculous of the Black Cat is just within his grasp now. 

“N-no,” the weak struggle of the boy hero in front of him looked pathetic, the urge to laugh was bubbling in him. 

“There’s no use to fight now,” a sadistic smile formed on his face as Gabriel held the boys arm by the wrist and touched the ring. 

“No, please.” 

“We’ll spare you,” Gabriel promised. “I’ll even make you a good, akuma of your own. Be your own hero. Just not without this ring. This ring is mine.”

Remembering Emilie, the fashion designer felt the possessiveness to  _ own _ the miraculous. He  _ had _ to have them. He just had to. 

“It’s over Chat Noir, we will finally see who you really are.” 

The hero’s head was still slumped over, probably still disoriented and unfocused on the current situation from the electric shocks he’s endured.  _ Good _ , the Hawk Moth civilian thought, the more the boy suffers, the stronger he would be in Gabriel’s army. 

“Oh, just remove the damn ring.” 

The nagging voice of the head of the League of Assassin’s spoke, and that was the only push Gabriel needed to fully remove the ring of the famous Chat Noir. 

Gabriel looked at the precious ring, pure black, with no spots. “Yes!” he clenched it in his fist and held it up high in the air. “Yes!”

He looked at her secretary, Nathalie, who has been silent all this time, he saw her looking at the ground, at the figure of the young child wearing a distinctive outfit. 

“Adrien,” the whisper of shock and incredulity mixed as Nathalie rushed towards his son. 

Forgetting the Miraculous, Gabriel followed suit beside his secretary and looked at his own child, scarred, battered and tired.

“F-Father?” 

~~

“Tikki’s going to stay?” Marinette asked, surprise and genuine curiosity in her voice. 

Master Fu nodded, “I hope you understand, this is necessary for what we have planned.” 

“Oh, of course! Tikki,” calling her partner, they hugged slightly. “I’ll be back soon.” 

Tikki smiled warmly and flew to Marinette’s forehead to give her a peck. “Take care of yourself, okay?” 

Rolling her eyes, Marinette grinned. “Will do, maman.”

Removing the earrings from her ears, Master Fu stopped her. “It’s fine, you might need to summon Tikki from wherever you are.”

“Hm?” Marinette tilted her head. “But I thought, Tikki needed to rest? I can surely take care of myself for the day, I’ll be back tomorrow night, too and-”

About to continue her speech, the self claimed 186 year old man shushed her. “She can rest here with us while you take the miraculous.” the elder man explained. “She just needs to tune herself to the miraculous box for some time to regain control of her abilities.”

Understanding the situation, Marinette bobbed her head. “I understand.” And she really did. The entire night has done well in her self-esteem. The image of Lila still cropped in her mind with the faces of Alya and  _ Adrien _ , but their voices don’t haunt her anymore. Of that she was really thankful. 

Knowing herself, her anxiety might crop up once she’s alone, but she’ll have to endure without Tikki for now. They needed to save Paris. And she needed to stay strong in order to do so. She’s just glad that it was summer holidays or she’ll never be able to keep up with classes and being Ladybug at her state. 

A hand on her shoulder made her thinking subside. It was Damian. His face looked like a mixture of angry, confused and worried. Like he was shown a crossword puzzle he knew the answer to, but couldn’t remember. It was, for lack of a better term,  _ cute _ .

Of course this did not mean that Marinette had a  _ crush _ on the guy. He was just like, really cute. 

“We got it,” a chuckle from their side happened and everyone in the room was staring at them with a knowing look and an annoying smirk. 

Covering her face with her hands, she dropped to her knees. “Did I say that out loud?” 

“It wasn’t an internal thought, that’s for sure,” Marianne jibed as she took the side of Master Fu. 

Groaning, Marinette resolved to not look at Damian for the rest of their time.

~~

Damian wanted the girl to look at her. Was that such a terrible thing to ask for? But of course, no matter how much he  _ wants _ , if the girl herself will not do so, Damian Al-Ghul-Wayne would never be able to force her to do a goddamn thing about it.

“Stop now, you’re making her uncomfortable!” he barked, the harsh command not intended to sound so strong.

Although everyone did stop, Damian knew, without looking, that they were all enjoying this shitshow. He vowed to get back at them all. Even the old geezer couples. 

Sitting in a frog like stance to look at her face, Damian removed his cape, a regular one, and covered her whole body with it. At least the one that he can see. 

“If you’re too embarrassed, it’s fine. Cover yourself up and I’ll carry you to your house.” 

“Can you even carry her?” 

“Ooh, bridal style?” 

“I’ll come with, I need to take a video.” 

Damian tutted to ignore them, finally feeling the mental discomfort the teasing of his co-workers have been giving them with this. He didn’t want Marinette’s feelings to be a cause of mere peer pressure. He wanted to work for it, and with the way Dick and the others have been handling this situation, it was neither healthy nor funny. 

Thankfully, Barbara took over. Thank god for that red haired devil. Honestly, the first batgirl could give Damian’s mother a run for her money for the name of Mother of Demons. 

“Everyone, focus. This isn’t the time to tease  _ anyone _ about anything. You’re making both of them uncomfortable.”

Barbara stole a glance over Damian’s shoulder, knowing full well that the look she gave was directed to the female behind her. 

“Damian, bring Mari home. The sun will rise in an hour and her parents might look for her.” Damian nodded. He hated being ordered, but if it meant leaving this place and having a final time to talk with his angel, he’ll take it. “Master Fu, do you mind if you stay with us? Or do you need to open up shop?”

The oldest man in the room shook her head. “I can close it off and blame it to the summer holidays.” 

“That sounds good, thank you. We’ll pay you for any loss in your revenue.” 

“It’s fine-”

“Just let them,” Damian rolled his eyes. “Everyone knows the Wayne family has more money in the pockets than the entire world can even think of.”

Clearing her throat, Barbara butted in, “What our youngest means is that, we would be more than glad to cover the loss in revenue. We want to make sure you’ll live your life comfortably. Goodness knows what Alfred will do to us if he knew we wouldn’t even offer this.”

A collective shudder visibly shook the members of the bat family in the room. 

“Besides,” Dick took the responsibility to continue. “We wouldn’t take no for an answer.” 

“Thank you,” the short man said instead as he held his partner closer to kiss her forehead. 

“Now, go you two! The adults need to talk.”

“Does that mean, you’re sending Jon away?” Damian teased before laughing and looking back at the girl that mattered most. “Shall we?”

Damian offered one of his capes to Marinette for her to cover herself against the cold morning air. Her face was covered by his cape and for some reason, the mere fact did wonders to his ego. 

Carrying her princess style, he ran back to the main room and through the tunnels where they entered to bring the blue haired princess back to her castle. 


	13. Chapter 13

Tikki was having a nice time. Keyword:  _ was _ . 

When Marinette and the Robin boy left, the goddess of luck knew that she left her holder in the right hands. At least until now. 

“What do we do?” One of the boys, the child named Tim, had asked and despite the millions of years that Tikki has lived on this Earth, she had no answer for this one. 

The moment Marinette and Damian left, Barbara left to call people who would apparently help them out. Tikki stayed with the Tim and the Dick males to review security footage and recordings from various people who have been bugged. 

One of them was a conversation with Hawkmoth and his new partner, the mother of Damian and the one apparently dubbed as the Mother of Demons. Upon hearing the revelation of how Damian Wayne’s emotions and actions are being manipulated? Tikki worried for her partner’s life. 

“Tikki,” the reprimanding voice of the olden guardian spoke. Tikki was about to fly off to follow the bluenette, she needs to be saved! 

“I need to save her,” her voice was small, but the things she can do are great. If Plagg could cause the extinction of Dinosaurs, she was the reason why life on Earth began to grow again. And she’s not afraid to-

“Tikki, my friend.” 

Looking around the room, she realized that they were all looking at her, dazed. Calming herself down, the kwami held on to her chest area to soothe down the bubbling rage from inside her. She can’t cause another witch hunt after all. 

“I have them bugged,” Barbara Gordon, the red haired, said as she rolled herself to her computer. Typing a few things out, she immediately heard Marinette’s laugh. “They’re going to be alright, Tikki.” 

For a moment, the goddess of luck thought that maybe, just maybe, if she was not with Marinette, she would have chosen the Oracle for the responsibility of being Ladybug. But that was a thought of something else. 

“We’ll watch them,” Dick announced as he held his brother, Tim’s shoulder. “Leave it to us.” 

Trusting them with the safety of her wearer. Tikki resolved to go back to the box which Master Fu was carrying to harness her powers to finally defeat their final obstacle. 

~~

“This isn’t the way home,” Damian heard the girl say with a raised brow. He smirked.

“Beauty, brains and brawn, no wonder I like you.” 

“Why thank you, kind Sir.” She bowed as she provided him a teasing look. 

“We’re taking the scenic route. If that’s okay?”

Keeping that smirking face, she spoke, “We already started though.”

Damian stopped his tracks. They’ve been walking towards the a slight north west direction away from the girl’s house, wanting more time with him for herself, and she just followed him. The girl was right, he should have asked. 

Millions of thoughts processed in his head as he thought of what to say next. 

“For what it’s worth, it’s fine.”

Damian heaved a huge sigh of relief before looking back at the girl’s face. A gust of wind blew the girl’s hair towards her face and without her pigtails, he could see every strand working their way to touch her porcelain skin. 

“Let’s get you straight home,” his voice suddenly announced and for the first time in his life, Damian heard himself speak without thinking first, and actually does not regret it. 

The girl’s smile didn’t falter. “I thought you wanted to take a scenic route?”

“I also promised not to court you until this ordeal is finished,” that he did. Damian promised  _ himself _ more than her that he wouldn’t overstep his boundaries and he was just about to do that. They couldn’t afford to be distracted in this situation. Much less her with her current mindset. “I almost broke that and I won’t forgive myself if I did.”

He saw her expression fall for a bit before a look that made the Wayne heir’s heart clench appeared on her face. “What if I want you to make a move?”

Damian Wayne did not know who had hurt his angel for her to ask that question to a stranger who barely met her. She deserved to take better care of herself, and if the situation was a lot different, he would act on it. But this time, with what he already knew about her, he wasn’t about to be an asshole.

Crossing the small distance they have, Damian moved to touch her hand but stopped himself in to ask for permission. “May I?” he asked and the girl nodded hesitantly. 

Removing his gloves he held her hands together with his, covering the soft calluses with the hard ones on his own. “I don’t know who made you think that you’re not worth the long courting phase,” Damian separated her hands moving her right hand to his chest, right above where his heart resides and entwining their fingers on the other. 

“This heart beats faster than it usually would, and it’s because I’m with you.” Damian didn’t know how to make the girl understand it, heck even  _ he _ couldn’t understand this, and that’s with his doctorate in Physics. “I don’t want you to think that I’ll lose interest in you after I get to know you better, because from what I’ve seen of you in the small amount of time we’ve had, you are an amazing and talented person. Anyone who has told you otherwise, I will skin alive if I have to. But I won’t do it because you won’t want me to do so, I’m sure. That’s just the kind of person you are.” Letting her right hand go and holding her left with both of his own, he moved to put a chase kiss at the back of her palm, but decided against it at the last moment, opting to touch it to his forehead instead.

“Please value yourself more,” and Damian meant that. “I’d rather have you give me obstacles so I can prove to you that I’ll work hard to gain your affection over you giving yourself to me because you think no one else would want you. Because  _ that’s _ not true.” He looked at her and saw her eyes glazed over, her face flushed and an unreadably cute expression on her face. Smiling, he continued. “I know just saying this to you won’t work, but let me work on this.”

~~

Despite Damian’s tone, Mari knew that the last statement was a request. She nodded, feeling emotions in her overflow. 

When Robin started his speech, she thought she made a mistake. But as he spoke, Mari was shocked by how observant the guy has been towards her tone and actions. And how he was able to read her mind. 

Sure, Marinette was attracted to Robin, and maybe she can use this to get over Adrien Agreste, but she never voiced that out and she never really even thought about it until now. But having it told straight to her by someone who she barely knew for days was like a slap in the face. 

Why did she even ask him that? 

_ Please value yourself more _ , were the words that Damian said. Was that it? She just stopped thinking that she was worth the effort so she jumps to the next opportunity to be with someone? 

She didn’t know. Marinette didn’t have an answer to that yet. All she did know was that if anyone else was in her position, she wouldn’t want them to make any rash decisions in the little time they had. 

Damian was still staring at her and Mari squirmed at the gaze. It was intense and very concerning how he cared so much about her well-being. 

“Thank you,” she said, but didn’t know why she was even thanking the guy in the first place. But she wanted to say it. It felt right. 

A small smile formed on the lips of the Robin as he released her hands and put his gloves back o. “Shall we?” 

Returning the expression, Mari took the offered shoulder and they walked to her place in silence. It didn’t take to arrive and the sun was yet to be visible, but the natural light was preparing to show itself. 

Once they were at the entrance of the bakery, Mari immediately cursed. 

“What’s wrong?” Damian inquired as he was taking something out of his utility belt.

“I can’t go up to my room and if my parents see me coming up from the entrance they’ll definitely question me and with you with me, they might think we-”

When Mari saw Damian’s expression, she immediately understood that her panic was for naught. Seeing his right hand outstretched hand Damian shot out a rope that reached to their roof. 

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh.” Damian held opened his left side for her. “Care to cling to me for a while?”

“I thought you wouldn’t court me, yet?” Mari teased and immediately regretted the words. “Sorry.” 

“If you think I’m already courting you with just this, you better prepare yourself after this.”

Holding on to Damian, Mari felt the air gush around them as they were propelled up to their roof. Robin let her go and pushed a button on his gloves to return the extended string back to where it was hidden. 

“Do you want me to get you inside?”

“No, I think I can manage.” 

Their awkward conversations grew with the night. The sun was rising and Mari’s sight of it was blocked by Damian’s body. He looked illuminated in the light. 

“I’ll be back for you tomorrow night as planned,” were the last things she heard from him. Of course, with her luck, they never met again after that. 


	14. Chapter 14

“What do you mean you won’t  _ allow  _ me? I don’t need your permission. None of yours.” 

Damian was furious. Upon returning, he was told to go back to Gotham and handle things from there as Barbara Gordon’s second in command with the comms. Of course, he declined it. He’s a better combat specialist than Dick and a much more competent leader than Tim. If anything,  _ he _ should allow them to get in his way. 

“Damian, just listen,” Grayson reasoned, massaging the bridge of his nose. The man had no  _ right _ to stop him from removing a villain from Paris. In fact, shouldn’t he rejoice? 

“What do I have to listen to,  _ Nightwing _ ?” The namesake was said, full of spite. “Because I have more things to do than just staying here talking to all of you when I can start planning this and gathering more data on the enemy.”

“It’s about your mother.” 

_ That _ caught the Robin’s attention, and it came from the old guy who wasn’t part of their family at all. He stared at the elderly who was looking up at him. Closing their distance until they were only about a foot away, Damian focused on the man. 

“Everything’s about my mother these days. Be more specific.” 

Jon decided to get in between them and despite the Super’s strength, Damian was able to push him away. “Don’t interrupt, Kent. I want to hear this man.” 

The elder man must have understood how he meant it, as he gave an approving look towards the others in the room. Damian would rather hear it from someone who had no actual connection to him  _ or _ his mother so he could get the story that wasn’t full of bias and convoluted past trauma speeches. 

The others left the room to leave them. Damian only knew about it because he heard their footsteps fade and a door close. He was sure they were going to listen in, but he didn’t care. As long as he gets this talk  _ alone _ . Since his mother is involved, that means the League is, and if her mother’s new partner was the Hawk Moth they were about to attack, he needed to plan this better. 

“Sit down, child.” It sounded like an option, but Damian knew a command if he heard one. No matter how soft the tone and how old the man. 

Damian sat, “Are you going to start or am I going to leave?” 

“Have patience with all things.” 

Rolling his eyes, Robin turned to stand. “Oh, gods.”

“But first of all, with yourself,” the man finished as he held Damian’s hand and gripped it to force him to sit back down.

“Really?” the Wayne heir tutted. “De Sales? I took you as a Sun Tzu fan.”

“Ah.” The old man smiled, releasing the grip on Damian’s wrist. “And they said you were not a humorous one.” He put some tea on two cups and moved one across Damian.

The raven haired boy smirked as he grabbed the offered beverage. “They just don’t appreciate  _ my _ kind of humor.” 

“That must be hard with all your older siblings.”

Sipping from his tea once, Damian put the cup down immediately. “Are you going to get on topic?”

“Straight to the point, I see.”

“I try.” 

Damian heard the older man sigh then he fell silent. His eyes were closed and his arms were supporting his head. For a moment, the boy thought the old man fell asleep. Before he could make a sound of displeasure, the eyes opened. 

“You’re mother has been akumatized.” 

Damian sighed. “Obviously, I knew that the moment I knew about akumatizations. What’s your point?” 

The Miraculous Guardian laughed, humorlessly, but it was still laugh. “And we learned two other things.”

The pause was palpable, you would hear an ant walk by. 

“You’re mother has used her abilities on you.” 

Damian waited for the elder to continue, not wanting to interrupt unless absolutely necessary. He decided to interrupt when the silence was getting too long. “I would have known if my mother attacked me or used magic on me. Raven has-”

“And your maternal sister.”

Damian frowned. “Maternal  _ what? _ ”

~~

Marinette was about to close up shop. 

“Are you sure you can handle it alone, honey?” her mother asked and Mari made a gesture of showing her biceps.

“Leave it to me, mom! Go take care of dad.” 

Leaving her alone, she remembered what happened earlier. 

For Marinette, her entire day has been  _ eventful _ . A meeting with the world wide famous BatFamily, though that started last night. Finding out about their true identities, which also began the night before. A normal, friendly, totally non-romantic stroll with  _ the _ Damian Wayne, himself. Helping out in the bakery with just her mother and her, since her dad is sick. And closing the shop for herself, which she hasn’t done alone ever. 

Humming along to her favorite song, she temporarily went out to remove the sign outside and move it in the bakery for the night. That was when she had an unexpected visitor. 

“Marinette?” 

Her blood ran cold as she heard the voice. It was the voice of someone who she once thought she trusted. The voice of the guy she revered. The voice of someone who she thought she loved. 

Turning around to face him, those green eyes that once made her swoon now made her boil with rage and feel disgusted. But they were looking with solemn hidden inside. 

“Adrien,” she whispered to the air, now hating the way the name rolled on her tongue. 

The blond, then looked down then closed his eyes, as if regretting something. “I’m so sorry,” was the last thing she heard before everything blacked out. 

~~

_ Please, please, please, please, please _ , were Duke’s only thought as they landed the Batplane on who knows where in Paris. 

“Are you still begging that the villain has been taken care of?” Stephanie Brown, the spoiler asked, her voice full of humor. 

When he received a call from Barbara, the first thing he thought was that it was the end of the world. Because Barbara ‘Scariest person to ever exist’ Gordon  _ never _ asks for help. So of course he answered it right away. Upon hearing the situation though, Duke immediately wanted to quit being a superhero right then and there.

“I can’t believe I have to come to Paris, France in this situation,” Duke said massaging his forehead. “Why can’t I have stayed at Gotham and handle things there again?”

“Because you lost a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to Batwing.”

Remembering the stupid game, he groaned louder. 

“Head out,” the command of the Bat Patriarch.

“Hey, Bruce. Aren’t you supposed to work alone and all that? I don’t have to be here, right?” 

The look he was given through the cowl was blank. “Codenames while on a mission,  _ Lark _ .”

Rolling his eyes, put his helmet on to complete his suit and they all went down the Batplane. Sometimes he wished that superhero work actually paid people, but alas, these troubles always have to be resolved for free. 

“Chill out, Duke. Just stay out of our way if you really don’t want to fight.” It was Cassandra Cain, and Duke shut his mouth, opting not to humor that joke for fear of the repercussions.

Once they were all done and arrived at the rendezvous point, Duke thanked all the deities above upon seeing Jason Todd in his Red Hood form. 

“‘Sup! You’re all late.”


	15. Chapter 15

Lila de Rossi was the name of Damian Wayne’s apparent half maternal sister. And it was scary how the Lila girl did look like Talia at a young age. The face shape, the eye shape, the conniving smile, that disgusting demeanor. Just looking at the girl made Damian see red. 

Not only because of the fact that she is one of their current enemies, or the fact that they were somehow  _ related _ , but also because of the fact that it seems like the woman is also involved in what had happened to his Marinette. 

_ Not yours _ , the voice in his head chided and Damian happily obliged to complete that statement with a ‘yet’.

“I’m still going.”

“Child,” the 186 year old Chinese man said. “I know how you feel, but it’s-”

Damian sighed. He was just told that the feelings he had for Marinette Dupain-Cheng was fake, courtesy of his mother. 

He knew though that whatever trick his mother used didn’t - wouldn’t - work on him anyway.  _ That’s right _ . 

Not wanting to entertain the old man anymore, he set out of the room only to be stopped by Barbara Gordon. 

“You’re not allowed to go.”

Glaring at her, Damian relayed a message with his eyes. “Don’t try me.”

~~

Adrien knew that what he was doing was wrong. Of course it was. Taking someone against their will is called kidnapping and kidnapping is always bad.  _ Always _ . But, and this is a big but, this is for the sake of his mother’s revival. He knew Marinette would understand. He just  _ knew _ she would. 

A groan of discomfort came from the girl and Adrien adjusted his hold on her. Maybe the chloroform was too much, but it was either that or taking her out as his new form. Adrien shuddered. No, he wouldn’t do that. He can’t control his powers yet.

Arriving at their meeting point, near their home, the Agreste heir didn’t need to signal for the gates to open, it just did. His guard took the Marinette from him and walked by his side as they reached his father’s office. 

Inside, he stared at his mother’s portrait. 

The ethereal beauty of her mother was something that he has always admired. And when people say that he looked like her, he doubted the notion because  _ who could look like such a beauty _ ?

Setting the portrait to the side, he input the code that his father had told him and the entrance to his Hawk Moth’s lair was revealed. 

“Adrien, my son!” he heard his father say and open his arms for a hug. Adrien has never seen his father so happy, so proud of something he’s done. This must mean that what he’s doing is right. “I see you’ve brought our guest of honor.”

Adrien nodded, albeit reluctantly. “Yes, father. Marinette is here.”

“Good, good. And nicely done. Not a scratch.”

Adrien saw Gabriel walk over to where Marinette was laid down on the ground by his guard. The fashion designer held the girl’s head and checked her ears, when he found that the earrings were still there, he heard Gabriel laugh. 

“After all these years of suffering and waiting, I now have all that I need for Emilie’s revival.” 

Adrien looked down and moved to touch his own miraculous only to find his ring finger empty. Oh, right. His father took Plagg away. 

Gabriel Agreste stood above his classmate and summoned his own kwami, “Nooroo, Dark Wings, Rise!”

The transformation was chilling, even without the complicated movements. 

When Adrien saw his father as Hawkmoth for the first time, he wasn’t able to talk, but now, he just knew he could never go back to being  _ just _ Chat Noir. 

“Son,” the voice whispered and Adrien snapped back to reality. 

“Yes, father?” 

“Prepare yourself with your new partner,” the man clad in an all violet suit, held a dark butterfly in his hands. “And go help our partners to defeat the other heroes in Paris.”

Knowing his father’s goal to complete the miraculous, Adrien knelt on one knee as a form of submission. “Yes, father.”  _ For mom. _

~~

Marinette woke up groggy, her head ached and her surroundings was blurry. At first, she tried to reach for her side, to check her phone, but her arms can’t be moved. Trying again, a painful sensation shot to her shoulders and wrist, which were hovered above her.  _ She’s tied up _ !

“Oh, good. You’re awake.”

The bluenette’s heart stopped. That chilling voice were both familiar and  _ too _ near. 

Looking up, Marinette saw Hawk Moth standing above her. “You,” she wanted to say, but as not able to due to the gag, she just noticed, covering her mouth. 

“No need to speak, all I need are your ears after all,” Marinette gasped at the implications. Was she still wearing her earrings. 

Trying to remove her hands from the bonds, she struggled to reach for contact with her ears just to confirm if she still had her miraculous. 

Hawk Moth laughed. “There’s no need to struggle my dear, what are you looking for?” 

The disgusting tone Hawk Moth used was leering. Mari started to panic. 

“Is it these, you’re looking for?” Mari heard the villain ask and she looked up at what he was holding. Her earrings all black. Still unused. Her heart broke. 

Letting out a garbled ‘no’, she tried to get up despite her hands and realized that her feet were also bound. Marinette continued to struggle. She felt warm tears run down her cold cheek. 

Her wrists began to burn in pain, the scabs on them from the other night started to open. She could feel the blood dripping on her hair and sliding on her arms. It was painful. All of it, but not as painful as what happened next. 

“You’ll never have these again.”

Mari tried to beg, to no avail. She couldn’t stop resisting though, she needed to get to Master Fu! To keep Tikki safe. She’s glad Tikki wasn’t with her, but that doesn’t mean that Hawk Moth wouldn’t find her. He used an Adrien doppelganger just to get to her, they might use her own image to get to Tikki! Was it Lila again?

“Are you thinking? I don’t think you have the time,  _ Ladybug _ .” The man laughed before continuing. “Oh right, you’re no longer her. At least not without your earrings.”

Mari disagreed. She can still be Ladybug. Not the spots clad hero, but someone who can help others in saving everyone else. She  _ had _ to get out. She needed to go to Master Fu. She needed to go to Da-

“ _ Damian, my son _ ,” the unfamiliar voice came from a wide screen just above Marinette. 

There she saw a woman, dark red hair, with a small figure. The woman was standing on the Eiffel Tower, and behind her was a white figure with a scythe and a group of ninja like men. Mari can only see everything from the side, like someone was documenting a fight. Across the woman was the familiar suit of Damian, Dick and Tim. 

“ _ Where is she mother? _ ” she heard Damian say, Dick’s hand was on his youngest brother’s shoulder. 

“ _ So hasty to see your  _ lover _ my dear? _ ” The woman laughed and Mari’s heart raced at the implication of her. “ _ Oh, but you’re not even really in love with her. Are you? _ ” 

Mari didn’t know what was happening but she knew that the situation was dire. Her heart was beating so fast, and she keeps on tugging on the rope, going as far as to trying to bite at it. 

“Aren’t you going to listen?” Hawk Moth inquired, his tone sounded like he found all of this hilarious. Marinette couldn’t entertain him. The others were waiting for her! 

“Watch!” the man in the room commanded and Marinette glared. 

“ _ I don’t know what you’re talking about. _ ” Damian spoke. “ _ Just tell me where she is and we’ll spare the League _ .”

The woman on the screen, apparently Damian’s mother, laughed heartily. The sound was loud enough to echo around the walls of whichever room they were in. 

“ _ Of course you don’t. Because I already reversed the effects. _ ” Marinette frowned. Was Damian’s mother a magician of some sort? Did she attack Damian? 

“ _ Is it pity you feel? Is that why you’re still asking for her? _ ” the question tugged at Mari’s heart. She remembered the eyes of Damian as he confessed to her, she knew that wasn’t pity, so they couldn’t be talking about her, could they?

“ _ After all, I only made you fall in love with her with my new found abilities. _ ”

That can’t be right. Damian’s mother can control emotions? 

“ _ And now that you’ve found her and led her to us, I reversed the effects. What you feel now isn’t love. _ ”

No, that can’t be fake.It wasn’t, was it?  _ You’re never going to be good enough _ , came Lila’s voice. 

“ _ I don’t know what you’re talking about _ .” Damian answered, his voice obviously strained. 

“ _ And here I pegged you to be intelligent, my son. I have made you fall in love with the Ladybug in Paris so we would know her true identity. Since it’s you,it should be easy. Everything else came after. Once we knew who it was, it was only a matter of time before we would start to act the plan to remove these superhero wannabes. And the time is  _ now _ . _ ”

Mari’s breathing stopped. 

“ _ How would you know if I was really in love with her? _ ” the answer almost made Marinette beg it wasn’t asked at all. 

“ _ Because my ability consists of subconsciously controlling you and your emotions. I made you throw your cape at her everytime I wanted to confirm that my hold on you is still working. _ ”

And all the scenes of that happening flooded through Marinette’s memories. In her room, while they moved to where she met everyone else. In that small headquarters where she almost believed she could already move on with her life. When she cried when they first met!

And that’s when Marinette’s vision of the screen was covered by a dark butterfly flying towards her. 


	16. Chapter 16

Damian knew he had to control himself. Just until they can know where the akuma was. Just until then. After, he can beat the shit out of his mother. Again. Like he did when he was just 10. Maybe even faster this time. 

_ Focus _ , the voice in his head said and Damian did. 

“And where do these powers come from?” 

Talia smirked, “My son, I am not stupid enough to let you know of my secrets.”

Damian looked at his eldest brother then shrugged. “It was worth a shot,” then he threw three shurikens to the Demon daughter’s direction. 

He knew it wouldn’t hit. His mother’s capabilities far exceeded that of a normal ninja from the League. Of course that simple attack wouldn’t hit. It wasn’t meant to anyway, all it needed to do was to be implanted on the area on the ground. 

An explosion full of smoke surrounded the area and that’s when they all attacked. 

Damian wanted to go big, so of course, he tried to attack Talia first. Of course, his plans wouldn’t always work with an annoying white cat furry in a spandex costume. 

“Where are you going, Christmas Bat?”

Damian tutted. As he dodged an attack from the big scythe that the man - boy- was holding. He couldn’t have been much older than Damian. In fact, he may be younger. 

“Oh, no retaliation?”

The Wayne heir decided to ignore the annoying taunts, opting to swipe an attack on the guy’s legs. His opponent fell on their knees and Damian held his batarang to deal a finishing blow. One thing that was stopped by his hateful mother. 

“Now, now, my son. You should battle them on equal ground.” 

“You know nothing of equal ground. I’ve been trained by  _ you _ to battle heavily armed people with nothing on me.” Damian jumped out as he tutted.

Talia smiled then signaled some of the assassins in the League. The next moment, two swords were thrown in between him and the other guy immediately grabbed one.

Damian saw Grayson attack his mother and Talia laughed as he dodged. “It’s rude to interrupt a family affair, you know.”

“You’re not Damian’s family, we are!” Dick’s statement was met with a serious face from the woman. 

Damian suddenly saw the guy that clad in white, scream as they tried to lunge at him. He dodged it easily then maneuvered himself to get the other sword on the ground. When he stood his ground to put himself in a proper stance to fight, the Robin immediately saw that he was surrounded by hordes of the League. 

“We need back up,” he heard Tim’s voice, slightly nervous. “Like now, preferably.” 

There was a silence from Barbara’s end and Damian immediately scoured his brain for a plan in case Gordon was compromised. 

“All’s good, they should be in your end in a few.”

“Who’s they?” Dick asked, as he threw a man to the side. 

“Venom!” was the only thing Damian heard before colorful people started raining from the ground. 

~~

Cass doesn’t consider herself a rule-follower. In fact, she’d claim to be the most rebellious of the batkids right now, no matter what Jason or Damian says. The only person she would and does listen to without questioning is Barbara Gordon. Because it’s Babs, come on.

So when Babs advised Cass to separate from the group and go to a different place, the house of a fashion designer called Gabriel Agreste, all she did was say yes. 

Upon arriving, Cass noticed the lack of guards, usually, rich people would have their houses filled with security measures, right? But this house was different. Sure there was a high gate. Sure there were cameras around, but aside from that? Nothing. 

The woman was able to get in the house without much of an anomaly. Not so much at least, because as she was about to enter a room, she saw a blond kid staring directly at him. 

“Who are you?” the teenage boy asked. Cass knew he was faking the calm and stoic expression, but his body language was failing him, as his hands shook. 

Without missing a beat, Cass asked, “Are you Felix Agreste?” 

The boy frowned, straightening his back as he focused a glare. Cass thought it was cute. “I am not obligated to answer that.” Turning to leave, the boy walked past her.

Cass made a movement to hold his wrist and twist him back to face her. The boy made a grunting sound. “No, but you’ll answer me anyway. Are you Felix Agreste, or not?” 

“Yes, yes! I am.” Cass let him go, and as she did, she saw that he was holding a white ring on his hand. 

“Oh, is that the cat miracle thing?”

The boy looked panicked for a moment and tightened the grip on the piece of jewelry. He looked away before speaking so Cass couldn’t really see his expression, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Cass rolled her eyes as she walked towards the exit, gesturing the boy to come with her. “No, you probably don’t. Neither do I, really, but I know someone who can tell us. Come on!”

~~

Marinette was-

Well, she was somewhere. She was floating in a wide space with nothing around her. She couldn’t see anything or anyone at all. 

“Hello?” she asked tentatively, moving around the space like she was flying. Nothing happened. “Is anyone there?” 

The first change happened when she remembered her last memory. The akuma going towards her, then her thoughts darkening. But everything else was blank. 

Why was she akumatized? Marinette couldn’t remember. She felt a stinging pain in her head.

Then the entire surrounding changed. It was a desert, she could feel sand underneath her feet. She was barefoot and everything was hot.Turning around to assess the situation she saw a girl, probably just a few years older than her, wearing a spotted long gown. She was fighting someone -  _ bad _ . Mari decided, that was how she felt. 

Speaking a language she couldn’t understand, Marinette stood dumbfounded. But she can’t leave this alone. She ran towards the fight. 

“Stop!” she said, but the words came out differently. The female looked at her direction with wide eyes and due to the distraction, the lady was shot with a sharp needle. 

The scene changed. 

She was in a forest this time, the trees were mostly cut down. There were two people this time, another spotted female and a guy with black cat like features. They were battling someone. A big thing that was burning the forest and cutting the trees. Mari felt the ground beneath her shake as she watched. 

The girl in red and black spots noticed her and shouted something in Chinese. Something about running. Marinette wasn’t sure because the scene changed once again.

This time, she was in a small space. Like the top of a tower. There was a big bell beside her that felt so real to the touch. Suddenly, loud noises were coming from outside. Leaning on the edge of the brick railing, she saw two forces engaged in a war, with a red spotted woman leading one of the sides. 

She didn’t know what to do, but she tipped far too much over the ledge of the tower that she was falling. Mari saw the spotted girl rushing to her side, flying. Then the scene changed again. 

This time she was on top of a pyramid. There was greenery below and a lot of people were looking at her. Well, not her, but someone behind her. Turning around, he saw a man clad in a spotted cape with an eagle on his shoulders. He looked straight at her,seemingly confused.

Mari couldn’t move. The man stretched his arm to touch her, as if to confirm if she was real. Before their skins could touch, the scene changed again. 

This time, multiple things were happening at once. Everytime a spotted person was in the middle of a fight, a war, a dispute, a duel, a debacle. And everytime, they always seem to see Marinette despite no one else in the surrounding being able to do so. 

_ This is the misfortune of the Ladybug Miraculous, _ a voice said. Mari was not sure where it was coming from.  _ The irony is that despite the good luck you are supposed to have, that is never for you. _

Mari fell on her knees. These are all the Ladybugs in history. She can currently see who they are, how they act, how they  _ fight _ . And it is always for others. They have no time for themselves. When does the fighting end?

“Never,” she heard a voice say. One of the Ladybugs said, they were now gathered around her. All smiling. There were probably dozens of them. 

“But it’s not all that bad.” Another said, holding his hand out to Mari. 

Mari hesitated to take it, but someone else grabbed her hand and pulled her up. “It’s fine, you’ll be alright,” the person said as they let go of her hand. 

“We’ll all be here with you,” someone else said and the ladybugs provided her path. 

“Once your full abilities unlock, you’ll be able to do greater things.” This came from the first girl she saw. 

For some reason, despite knowing that every is speaking a different language, Marinette could understand all of them. She didn’t question it out loud. 

“Don’t think too hard,” a small girl wearing a leaf hat said. “Everything will be alright.”

Another girl, a beautiful, dark skinned female, linked their arms together. “Just trust yourself and those around you. And us.”

Then she was let go, a small push was given to her. Looking back, everyone was gone, but a faint, collective ‘good luck’ can be heard. 

Looking towards the direction she was pushed, she saw an old man. Possibly younger than Master Fu.

“Nice to meet you Ladybug,” the man smiled, “My name is Ma Jie, the creator of the Miraculous.”


	17. Chapter 17

The rain has been going on for hours and Kagami used the time inside their own school gymnasium to practice. Losing track of time, she only stopped when the lights turned off after a loud thunder resounded the area. 

“What the-” was her initial reaction before calming herself down to assess the situation. 

It was dark, very dark in fact, and the rain outside was very loud. She wasn’t able to notice earlier, probably due to her concentration. Making use of what little light is provided by the night sky through the windows, Kagami was able to locate her stuff on a bench nearby. She grabbed her phone to use it as a torch.

While rummaging through her things, two things fell. Her phone, the one she was looking for, already lit up. And a very familiar box that clanged beside her device. She picked her phone up and opened the flash light to confirm her beliefs. It was the box where Kagami first found Longg. 

Looking around, she was sure she did not see anyone come inside the room and put anything in her bag. And she definitely did not have it when she started as she fixed her own bag beforehand. 

Opening the small box, she saw Longg appear. 

“Miss Tsurugi,” the small kwami stated. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You as well, Longg. What’s the situation?” 

~~

“I don’t think I can do this,” was what Marinette stated after listening to the creator of the Miraculous. 

The man, Ma Jie, smiled at him. “Why not?” 

Why not indeed? Ma Jie explained how he was the first Miraculous holder. How he met Tikki and the other kwamis. And how he was tasked to make sure they fall into the right hands. 

“ _ The kwamis have existed even before the miraculous was created. It contains their powers, and can unleash them if need be, _ ” she remembered the man say just a few moments ago. 

As they spoke, Mari was taken to see everything. To the start of the universe. To the start of the kwamis. How there have been hundreds of them until the creation. How Tikki created the life on Earth. How Plagg destroyed the dinosaurs. How the other kwamis were lost in a void until found. How the humans advanced with the help of the kwamis. How the remaining kwamis on Earth needed partners to control their abilities, while the creation and destruction ones needed someone to contain them. How Ma Jie created the Miraculous to help with that instead.  _ Everything _ . 

Yet the more it made sense, the more confusing it got. 

“Why contain them in the Miraculouses if their abilities can be transferred directly anyway?” 

Ma Jie’s smile remained on his face, but turned sad, solemn. “I think you know the answer to that.” 

And Mari was scared of that answer. Because if that was the only way to defeat Hawkmoth and free Nooroo, Mari knew she had to do it. She just had to. And she’s scared she might not be enough. 

Taking a gulp of the non-existent air to calm herself, Mari closed her eyes. 

_ Don’t worry _ , she heard the voices of the previous Ladybugs.  _ We’ll be here with you _ .

“I can’t do this,” she repeated, the statement was more for her than for the elder. 

“Yes, you can,” was the last thing she heard from someone who held her hands on theirs.

Then she woke up.

~~

“How many of you are there?” was the question of Duke Thomas while in his glaringly yellow costume. 

“They can’t understand you, they speak French,” was the answer of Tim Drake. 

Just a few moments ago, Damian, for sure, thought that they were in a pinch and that he needed to do something drastic just to make sure that they at least got out alive before attacking at a better time. Thankfully, other self-claimed superheroes from Paris and his father arrived. 

“ _ Good god, they’re noisy _ ,” was the comment of a blonde haired heroine in French. 

“I don’t know what she said, but it pissed me off,” Todd grunted while taking out a few assassins who were about to attack him. “It’s about me isn’t it?” 

Dick tied up some people before answering. “It’s collectively about all of us, I think.”

“ _ I’m sorry for this _ ,” Damian heard his father say to the blue haired snake guy they got help with before. 

“ _ We’re used to crazy, _ ” was the response. 

Damian was still fighting off other people, now ignoring everything else the others have been saying and focusing on getting to his mother. He wanted her all for himself after all. 

“Not so fast, little bat.” 

It was the white furry cat from a while ago. 

“You speak English,” Damian couldn’t hide his surprise.

The boy attacked him. “Of course I can, I’m a smart cat.” 

Damian scoffed. “You don’t look it.” Their swords clashed. 

They stood a few feet away from each other and Damian smirked at the stance the blond made. One of the boy’s feet was pointing front, his foot straight forward. The other foot 3 feet apart away from the front, pointed at a 90 degree angle to fit the other. His feet were bent. The sword arm is bent to a familiar angle. 

Damian was familiar with the stance. He was trained in fencing, too, after all. Among other things. Dodging the attack, Damian took a sidestep and hit the hilt of his sword to the back of the neck of the boy. 

“Chat Blanc!” a new voice said, Damian looked up, knowing that the other guy under

In front of him was the familiar face of his supposed sister with their biological mother. There was a groan from the guy below him. 

“How?” 

“How?” Damian repeated incredulously. “I beat you at age 6, what do you mean how?” he asked as he stepped on the back of the head of the certain white cat and used the way it bobbed as leverage to jump up to where his mother and sister was. 

“My son.” Talia whispered.

“Mother.” Damian dryly.

“Brother.” His apparent sister, Damian raised a brow.

“No.” 

There was a silence before the two females walked around him to surround him then attacked him at the same time. 

Damian effortlessly moved away from the attacks. Making sure that they don’t touch him. As the younger girl tried to kick him, he caught her knee calf and twisted her to pin her on the ground. 

“It’s over mother,” he said, knowing that the other assassins can be dealt with easily. 

“Is it?” Talia asked and Damian’s heart fell as he turned back to the girl beneath her. Instead of seeing the long brown hair, he saw a bluenette female he was all too familiar with. 

“Damian, let me go.” The girl said in Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s voice.


	18. Chapter 18

Nathalie Sancoeur lived for Gabriel Agreste. He was her first love after all. So when he asked her to introduce him to her best friend, Emilie, of course the only answer she could say was yes. 

“ _ I love him, Nath, _ ” Emilie said once. 

Nathalie’s heart broke because who does she choose? Her best friend, her second half, the one who was like a sister to her? Or the man who she thought was the love of her life? The question wasn’t even fair. 

Nathalie knew that if she told Emilie of her feelings, her friend would give way. Lie about being in love. Lie and smile at her. And Nathalie can be happy would Gabriel. But would she truly be happy knowing that her best friend’s heart was breaking? 

The answer was always going to be no. So Nathalie gave way. 

A few years later, Adrien happened, and Nathalie was as happy as Emilie was. She couldn’t wait to be a godmother. She wanted to make sure to spoil the child rotten. Emilie was having the life she deserved, Gabriel was happy with Emilie and Adrien was their little ball of joy. 

Then Emilie died. The heartbreak she felt when she lost Emilie to Gabriel and vice versa was multiplied by hundreds of times. She couldn’t believe it. Nathalie went as far as to check the books the two women always read as children. She opened Duusu and Nooroo. She needed answers. Anyway to help Emilie back to life because, dear god, she didn’t deserve to die so young. Adrien didn’t deserve to lose a mother. Gabriel didn’t deserve to lose her wife. She didn’t deserve to lose her best friend. 

Duusu cried the most. She was the one who told her of the possibility of revival from the Ladybug and Chat Noir miraculouses. Nooroo stopped her, but couldn’t do so in between her tears. 

Gabriel caught them. 

Nathalie had to explain everything. From the very beginning, she had to let Gabriel know what was happening so she can be sure that he wouldn’t take the miraculouses, the kwamis, the book, away from her. It was her only connection to Emilie after all. 

Yet, Gabriel still did. He became Hawkmoth the next day, and the Ladybug and Chat Noir heroes came to them without much effort. The book was locked up after thorough study from the fashion designer and Nathalie could only watch from behind. 

Until she couldn’t just watch any longer. She needed to do something. She needed to help Gabriel. If you can’t stop them, join them. Right? 

Then her old feelings revived and she no longer knows what to do. 

A part of her, a vile disgusting part, wants Emilie to stay dead. So she can have Gabriel to herself. Didn’t she deserve him already? After everything? She’s been a mother to Adrien, hasn’t she? More than Emilie was? 

The other part of her wanted her to revive Emilie because she wanted to see her best friend alive again. Even at the cost of her own life. Because Emilie deserved to be happy. It’s all she ever asked for as a child. When she was bullied for her pretty looks and Nathalie had to protect her. Emilie deserved all the ounce of happiness she could get. 

And the decision of which part to choose is now in her hands. The Ladybug miraculous is on her palm. 

“Give it to me,” she heard Gabriel say as Hawkmoth and Nathalie didn’t stop her hands despite her hesitation. 

Gabriel’s happiness was Emilie’s happiness after all. 

As she was about to drop the Ladybug earrings on one hand of the fashion designer, who was holding the box for the Cat ring on the other hand, her hands were stopped by someone that should not have been there. 

“Chat Noir?” the disbelief in Gabriel’s question was evident. “But that’s impossible! I have the ring right-” the man opened the box on his one hand to see that it was empty. 

“Surprised?” the Chat Noir asked and Nathalie frowned because she  _ knew _ that voice. Despite only having heard it a few times. Maybe because of the rarity of how many times she’s heard it, is the reason why she recognizes it. 

“You’re not my son,” Hawkmoth said and Nathalie backed away with the earrings in her hand. 

“Wow,” the new Chat Noir with longer blond hair said, amusement in his voice. “That’s great observational skills. Now forgive me if I don’t applaud you, but I have better use of my hands.” The black cat attacked Hawkmoth with his staff, the older man parried.

“How did you-”

The Chat Noir summoned cataclysm at that point and, with fast reflexes, he grabbed at the brooch in the villain’s outfit. Gabriel dodged and had his cane sacrificed instead. 

“Nice reflexes,” the cat hero complimented. “For an old man.” 

“Nice attack,” the villain retorted. “For a new hero.” 

“Aww, are you complimenting me, Mr. Psycho?”

“You’re talkative.”

“I heard my predecessor was  _ way _ worse, but you wouldn’t know,  _ would you _ ?” The new Chat Noir laughed. “After all, you put him in danger multiple times as both a civilian and in his hero form.” 

The fight went on with the banter never stopping. Nathalie didn’t know what to do. At least not until she felt someone cover her mouth and hold her wrist. Looking back, it was an Asian woman. 

“Shhh,” she whispered and Nathalie slightly panicked. Was this how it will all end for her? She still hasn’t said her goodbye to Emilie. She still hasn’t said her peace. She wanted to do  _ something _ , but she didn’t know what. 

“My name is Cassandra Cain,” the bob haired Asian woman introduced herself, removing her hand from Nathalie’s mouth when the personal assistant’s breathing calmed down. “And I think this is yours.” 

Receiving the brooch for the peacock miraculous, Nathalie looked back to the time that Emilie and her played with Duusu and Nooroo after finding them in an abandoned part of Emilie’s house. 

Nathalie remembered the days that they were happy. Emilie, Duusu, Nooroo. And Nathalie shed a tear as she closed her eyes, hugging the brooch she misused multiple times. She had to apologize to Duusu. Nooroo, too. Emilie especially. Her friend wouldn’t have wanted this. Not for anyone. 

Making a final decision, Nathalie looked at the woman and the girl who was passed out on the end of the room. 

“Give this to her,” she handed the Ladybug earrings to the woman, with the keys to the binds. “I’ll stall Hawkmoth here.” 

The other woman understood what she was saying. Maybe knowing that Nathalie wanted to do it to atone for all her sins. Transforming to Mayura, he Amokatized herself. 

~~

Mari woke up uncomfortably, slung on the shoulder of someone. Moving on her own as a reflex, she fell on hard ground. 

“Ow,” she said. Her entire body aching. 

“Marinette!” the familiar voice of Tikki said. 

Looking up at the kwami, she saw another face come into view. She looked pretty. And scary, for some reason. Forcing herself in a fight stance, she stumbled onto the floor and fell. 

“Careful,” the woman asked. 

“It’s fine, Marinette, she’s a friend. Damian’s friend.” 

Marinette frowned. Damian’s friend? This pretty woman? Is she also part of their clan of bird-slash-mammal species? Are they all so good looking? 

The woman, chuckled. “Thank you, but don’t let the boys hear you say that. Their egos will inflate.” 

Marinette blushed, did she just say that out loud? 

“Yes,” Tikki answered this time and Mari felt like hiding in a hole forever. 

“You can hide all you want later, but first we need to get to the others.” 

Marinette reorganized her thoughts. “Sorry, for that.” Then tried to remember the last thing that happened. 

Wait, “Wasn’t I in Hawkmoth’s lair?” Tikki and the bob haired nodded. 

“We just got you out. And we need to get to where the others are. I’m Cassandra, by the way, I don’t think we’ve met. I’d introduce myself better next time.” 

“What better way to introduce yourself than while under attack by villains?” Marinette tried to joke poorly. Cassandra laughed. 

“Call me Cass from now on, the only people I like get to do that, and since you made me laugh so you’re high on my list.” 

Sighing in relief, Marinette reached for her ears where her earrings should be. She was glad they were there. 

“How?” she asked, looking at both Tikki and Cass. 

“The woman with Hawkmoth and Chat Noir stalled him for us. We made sure you have it since I heard your powers are incredible.” 

Marinette couldn’t thank them enough. 

“Chat Noir is fighting Hawkmoth?” Marinette was shocked. She’s glad Chat was finally doing some good again, after all these years. 

It was Tikki who responded, “A different one. Long story.” Mari nodded and looked at her long time partner. 

“You’ll explain after this fight?” 

The kwami smiled, “I promise.” 

_ Good, _ Mari thought.  _ It's now or never _ . 

“Tikki,” she began her usual catchphrase. “Unleash.” 

Wide eyed, the kwami of creation entered her body instead of her earrings and Mari let her newfound abilities overflow. 

~~

Damian leered at the figure below him. He doesn’t feel anything for the girl anyway. He punched the faux bluenette and she screamed. 

“That’s right, Damian. You do not love the girl under you.” 

Damian sneered, “Of course not.” The twin tailed girl screamed with the familiar voice until her image reverted back to one Lila de Rossi. 

The brunette girl was still screaming. Talia didn’t seem to care for his sister, her daughter, as she kept on goading. 

“How about now, what do you feel?” 

Damian made a final action towards the the impersonator beneath him by knocking her out cold. Lunging at his mother, with the end of his katana near her face, he answered her.

“Pure unadulterated anger.” He sidestepped to twist his body below and use his height to tackle her stomach. Talia got hit. 

“Impossible,” he heard her say. Damian laughed. 

“Defeating you? Hardly, again I’ve beat you many times before when I was younger, stop being so shocked that I can do it now”

“But my abilities,” Talia coughed blood. “You’re supposed to love me. I made you love me above all else. I’m your,” a struggling cough with more blood gushing on the side of her mouth. “Mother.”

Damian stared at the woman he once revered. After all, Talia was right, he was supposed to love her. As a son would his mother. But she was never a mother to him. Not once. That’s where she was wrong and where Damian would correct her.

“You’re not my mother,” he said, not in spite because Talia didn’t deserve anything from him. Not even spite. “You were a woman who was driven by your greed and brainwashed by Ra’s al Ghul to make the ultimate weapon.” Talia’s yes shimmered with betrayal. Damian answered it with a look of pity. “Well you’ve made it, Talia  _ al Ghul _ . You’ve made the perfect weapon.” 

The bloodied head of the League of Assassins had tears in her eyes. Damian couldn’t be bothered to wipe them. “To answer your question, your abilities never worked on me.” 

Before Damian could finish, an ever resounding “Catastrophe,” was yelled before he felt a certain white cat touch him from behind. 


	19. Chapter 19

Nooroo has always tried to be a pacifist. Since their creation, he’s always believed that war and violence was just  _ wrong _ . He was made sure to be allied to people who shared his beliefs. But of course, the peace he had with his abilities and previous wearers will always have an end. 

Although it is true that the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses are the strongest, there has never been any denial regarding the wider capabilities of the Peacock and Butterfly Miraculous. After all, the miraculous of creation and destruction will only ever be the strongest when their full abilities are unleashed. But no one knows that. No one except Tikki and Plagg. 

When Nooroo was taken with Duusu, the first thought he had was that the Guardians would surely save them.  _ Surely _ . They were a vital part of the miraculouses. Each of them were. But days passed by and nothing happened. Duusu began crying within her box and Nooroo tried his best to console her. 

Months flew and Nooroo thought that maybe, just maybe, things will look up. Maybe the reason why the guardians were taking so long was because the others were missing too? Then months turned to years and Nooroo was starting to lose hope. 

He was glad Duusu was with him, or he might have lost all hope entirely. 

Then Emilie Blanchett and Nathalie Sancoeur happened.The first human contact they’ve had and they were  _ children _ . Duusu took the blonde child right away. They were, in terms, kin. Emotional and dramatic. Emilie was a set candidate for being able to wield the peacock miraculous. In fact, Emilie was what the guardian’s can call, a true miraculous holder. 

Nathalie was a more mature girl and Nooroo felt some sort of kinship with her as they set to take care of their own companions. Emilie served as the happy little spot of the group despite the neglect she received from her parents. Duusu always cried for her. Nathalie consoled both of them and Nooroo watched over everyone. 

As both humans grew up, the time they spent with the kwamis grew less. But they never failed to still visit. Opened them every once in a while to catch up on things that have happened. Until it ultimately stopped. 

Nooroo wondered why, but figured that maybe the women wanted to live their lives away from childhood fantasies. And that’s all they can be really. After all, even after all the stories they provided to both women regarding the miraculouses and the miraculous book, there was  _ no way _ they can give their powers to them. It was far too dangerous. 

But that choice was taken away from Nooroo when Nathalie opened his box again. Crying. It was the first time he’d seen the woman in tears. Duusu was almost always crying. Emilie, too, when she was having too much for her day. But Nathalie, she never cried. Even as a child, all she did was smile and move on. Resilience was a trait Nooroo always thought she had. It broke his heart at times and those times couldn’t compare to what he feels now.

_ Emilie’s dead _ , was the news the brunette gave them and Nooroo couldn’t react during a time when both Nathalie and Duusu were already at their breaking point. 

Nathalie asked for help. Any help from both Duusu and him. And it was Duusu who made a move without any of them knowing. His fellow kwami left him alone with Nathalie and disappeared somewhere. It was too late when Nooroo learned that Duusu unleashed her abilities with Emilie’s dead body, preserving it in a comatose like state. 

“ _ I’m so sorry _ ,” he heard Nathalie say, taking blame for what had happened. Nooroo knew that it was his.  _ He _ should have known that Duusu will do this. The only way to get his fellow kwami out now is through a pure akumatization. 

The power of both Nooroo’s akumatization and Duusu’s amokization are both reduced to a quarter when they are being used by their wearers. And unleashing their abilities will make use of over 100 percent of their full capacity. He knew that if he akumatized Duusu with his own abilities, the peacock kwami will survive it once she gets cleansed. The problem will be Emilie’s body. 

So Nooroo sacrificed two of his special butterflies. One to keep Emilie in her state and another to get Duusu out. It was a miracle it worked. He thanked Tikki, wherever she was. 

But because of what happened, they were caught by a vile man named Gabriel Agreste. Apparently, Emilie’s husband. Nooroo refused to say anything to him. It turns out, he didn’t need to. Nathalie told him everything. 

Nooroo was crushed. He barely understood human emotions. Only their ambitions and aspirations. The latter two were what fueled his abilities after all. So he didn’t understand why Nathalie would tell this  _ man _ something that should have been kept a secret. At least back then. The moment the butterfly kwami saw Nathalie break down in front of the man, he immediately knew that this was the emotion humans called love. 

Thinking that the betrayal of being outed was worse. Nooroo was proven wrong the moment he saw Duusu locked up in her own box and Gabriel took a hold of his. With the knowledge the man had of them, Nooroo knew he couldn’t escape this without help. He just hoped he could get it soon. 

Of course with the course of what was happening, it didn’t happen after years. And when Duusu looked at him with glassy eyes, when he saw Gabriel Agreste on the ground, unconscious, when he saw his brooch break, knowing that Tikki finally, finally saved him. It was the first time Nooroo shed tears in years. 

It felt good. 

~~

Damian held the single white rose he had on his one hand as he stared at the tombstone in front of him. The woman’s name was written in pretty letters and even if Damian never really knew her, it was worth it to know that what happened nights before weren’t a dream. 

Closing his eyes, Damian, recalled his dream. 

~

_ “How did you survive that?” the white cat asked, blood dripping from one side of his mouth.  _

_ Damian deadpanned at him before looking at Talia. He directed the answer to her, “I was revived with invulnerability to physical  _ and  _ magical attacks. Of course you wouldn’t have hurt me.” _

_ Talia’s mouth propped open, Damian smirked in satisfaction as he let her realize that his so called love potion never worked.  _

_ “That’s impossible.”  _

_ “You taught me to defy the impossible,  _ mother _ ,” the last word was said with spite, but who wouldn’t be spiteful in this situation?  _

_ “The cape! I made sure of it!”  _

_ Damian’s sarchotic smile turned solemn as he looked for the voice from inside him that was now gone. “When you dropped me in the pit with a lifeless body to clone me into it, that lifeless body wasn’t lifeless at all.” _

_ Talia’s eyes widened. “You-” _

_ “Have,” Damian shook his head then to correct himself. “ _ Had _ two consciousness in me.” _

_ “Had?” someone else asked, turning around Damian saw his father. _

_ “He’s detached before the fight beg-” before he could finish what he was saying, the image of his father changed into someone else.  _

_ A moment later, Lila de Rossi was in front of him, holding a bloodied sword after she plunged it straight to his direction.  _

_ The one who was hit? Wang Fu.  _

_ “Get out of the way, old man!” Lila shouted as she made an action to attack once again. Damian couldn’t be bothered to dodge, he caught the old man before he could fall. _

_ Damian couldn’t process much of what had happened after. Looking back at the old man in his arms, one he knew was important to his Marinette and this entire situation, he couldn’t help but feel his breathing shorten.  _

_ He was a doctor! He can do something. He has to!  _

_ It turns out, he didn’t have to. _

_ “Damian?” he heard the all-too familiar voice. Damian didn’t want to hear it here though. Not like this. Not in the middle of what is happening. Not when someone was dying. “M-Master Fu?” _

_ The old man looked at the girl. She rushed forward and stopped in front of Damian. Marinette’s outfit was different. She had a cape. It didn’t seem flowy though, and it was only available on her right side. On the other was a half skirt where her yoyo, is stationary. Her aura is different, too. Like she’s able to do  _ anything _ she set her mind into. The question is, can she bring the dead back. _

_ “My child,” Wang struggled to reach his hand out to touch the Ladybug. Marinette fell on her knees.  _

_ “Master Fu, I’ll fix this. Just hold on, okay?”  _

_ Shaking his head, the man smiled. “I know what you’re doing, and I won’t let you do it.” The man tried to sit up, but Damian let him back down.  _

_ “Stay still, old man. I’ll fix you up.” Damian didn’t have time for this. Not right now.  _

_ He looked at his surroundings. Lila was apprehended by Tim, the other Parisian heroes were huddling over to them, his family still below some capturing other assassin’s, the others checking out civilians below.  _

_ Damian checked his utility belt without moving the old man much and when he found a bottle of lidocaine. Now just an injection to get some in the old man’s body.  _

_ As he was struggling, he saw Marinette stand up. A silent conversation went between the old miraculous guardian and the Ladybug holder.  _

_ The next thing Damian knew, Marinette screamed her Miraculous Ladybug catchphrase to the air with her yoyo and, unlike before where the change was made through a wave of air, light illuminated Paris and practically blinded everyone.  _

~

“Damian,” someone called from behind him. It was Tim. “We’ve found someone who fits the description you gave.” 

Nodding, Damian left the rose on top of the tombstone that read: 

** _Emilie Agreste_ **

** _1982-2013_ **

** _Beloved Wife, Mother and Best Friend_ **

** _May She Rest in Peace_ **

Seeing the name one last time, he knew that his dreams were real. He left the rose on the former actress tomb. 

~~

Marinette woke with a start. It’s been 5 years since she returned back in time. Five years of living the life she would have had without Tikki and the other heroes by her side. Thankfully, she was able to befriend everyone the right way. 

Chloe was slightly tough, after all, they’ve been at each other’s throats since childhood. But with the fact that Mari never fell in love with that Adrien, who somehow has been going to their school since childhood, apparently, courtesy of his stepmother, she was able to make the blonde her friend. 

And great friends they became. 

Mari tried to befriend Alya, but apparently that wasn’t going to happen with her hardheadedness and illogical thoughts regarding gossips that  _ just weren’t true _ . 

Nino confessed to her once, but they became friends instead, when Nino understood where her feelings lie. 

Speaking of lie, though in a different meaning altogether, Lila de Rossi still appeared in her life. But with Chloe by her side, they were able to get Lila’s attitude in check. At least, of course, with them. 

Kagami became Adrien’s girlfriend and was introduced to a school party once, but they broke up right away. The next thing Mari knew, Chloe was asking for help with her outfit for a date with a certain Japanese fencer. 

Luka and their band also began to hit off. In the years that Mari helped them out, Kitty Section became a well-known local band with their own fanbase. The bluenette was proud. Luka was always like a big brother to her anyway, though there was a time that she really hoped he could be something more. 

Luka introduced them to his college dormmate and best friend, Felix, who happened to be Adrien’s cousin. Their big group, just kept getting bigger, but Mari still always felt that something,  _ someone _ was lacking. She knew exactly who it was, but her heart denied it as, of course, how would Damian Wayne remember her? No one else did.

It was their final year in highschool and they were preparing for graduation. Apparently, during their rehearsal, the guest of honor would arrive to rehearse with them. So when Mari saw the guy walk up the stage, she mentally slapped herself because there was just  _ no way _ .

Looking at him from the stage, Damian Wayne was there in the flesh. Their principal explained that the Wayne family has been funding their school for years. Mari had no idea. 

“That’s my Ian,” Mari heard Lila say from behind her. “See, he’s looking at me. We’ve been together in secret for years.” 

Mari shook her head because  _ that _ ruined her supposed reunion with Damian. Lila was right though, Damian was looking in their direction. Why? He can’t possibly remember her, can he? 

Trying to look around her surroundings to check anything else that Damian may in fact be looking at, Mari was surprised when it didn’t even take a minute before she felt his familiar hands cupping her face and forcing it to be turned towards the front. 

“Don’t look at anyone else,” the tone was that of a command, but Mari saw Damian’s eyes and knew that it was a plea. 

Mari nodded. 

“I don’t know who you are and I didn’t ask for your name because I wanted to hear it from you. This may even sound crazy to you, but what I’m going to say is true. I know we have never met yet, but I think I’m in love you.”

Tears filled Mari’s eyes. It wasn’t even her graduation yet, but she already feels like she’s graduated one part of her life and welcome the next. 

  
  



	20. Chapter 20

For context Marinette should start from the beginning. 

As a child, even before she became Ladybug, Marinette has already been having dreams of things - people, places, events - which she can’t always explain. Sometimes, they felt so real that she can feel the touches of the people in her dreams. Hear their voices. Talk to them.

But those things were soon forgotten as she grew into her teens. They were buried even further in her memories when she received her Miraculous. 

The only time she did remember her dream after was when she was kidnapped and akumatized by a certain Hawkmoth. Marinette didn’t just remember the dream this time though. She lived it.

Speaking with Ma Jie, the creator of the Miraculous, she knew that he and the other Ladybugs were the ones who appeared in her dreams before. She couldn’t remember what for, but looking back into it, she knew there was a reason why her combat knowledge was already good despite having never been trained. 

As Ma Jie explained how the Miraculouses were created, and what the full abilities of each and every kwami are, Marinette knew that her decision on what to do with the knowledge and the power would be important. After all, there have been Ladybugs who have fallen to evil before. What would the chances be that she wouldn’t? Slim. 

The main decision though is the repercussions of each action Marinette will have once she acts on her own sense of justice. Because with the Ladybug Miraculous’ ability to be able to create  _ anything _ at all, from life to additional abilities of its own, whatever she decides to do will impact her entire life and nothing can be given without taking in return. 

When she unleashed Tikki’s powers, a mental timer appeared within her head. The ticking was nonstop and Marinette knew that she could do nothing to stop it. Whatever happens after the time runs out will no longer depend on her. But whatever she can do within that time frame is all her decision. 

So she decides to do what the Ladybugs in her dream did. She set out to save everyone. 

There was a reason why there have been little to no record of the Miraculouses throughout history and it’s not because the guardians hid them. Not entirely at least. 

Looking into the past, if you check the records of everytime a Ladybug has appeared, it was always some sort of miracle hero destined to save people. And most of them die at a young age. As a result of their death, a final Miraculous Ladybug spell is unleashed to wipeout the memories of everyone involved with the hero and knew of the heroes abilities. This is to protect the earrings. After all, if this didn’t happen, who knew how many times Tikki’s powers would have been used for the wrong things. 

But what about the Cat Miraculous? Isn’t it as important and strong? Well that’s the scarier part. The reason why the Cat Miraculous is not always given to a holder is not because of its destructive powers but because of the bad luck that comes with it. And after seeing the Ladybugs with Chat Noir partners, Marinette knew that whatever the consequences they had, the Cat gets worse. And as much as he disliked her Cat, she couldn’t put anyone else in danger. 

So she decided to sacrifice herself. At least she thought. By law of equivalent exchange, she can’t do something without taking something back. Making a city wide Miraculous Ladybug won’t be enough. 

Marinette looked through the events from the beginning of her time as the spotted hero and learned everything. From Chat Noir, Hawkmoth and Mayura’s identities, to the reason for Hawkmoth’s drive to get the Miraculous, to the pain the akumatizations have spread throughout Paris and everything else. 

She decided that she needed to fix this from the beginning, so Marinette went back in time to change their reality.

Making sure the guardians never got raided, she met a young Wang Fu and told him about the attack. Nooroo was safe. Hawkmoth will no longer happen. Meeting up with a young Marianne, Marinette urged the woman’s spark to travel the globe, even up to a certain mountain where a certain someone resides. She wasn’t able to stop the death of Adrien’s mother, though, but that didn’t stop her from fixing Gabrel Agreste’s life, because even if he had been a major tormentor in Marinette’s life, he didn’t deserve the pain he’s feeling. 

After all the changes she’d made, the ticking in her head came to a stop. She woke up on her old bed, and upon looking at her phone, she saw the date. It was the day she got the Miraculous. This time though, she’ll never get it again. 

Looking back to her experiences, Marinette was thankful, but the one thing she did regret was never being able to say goodbye to Tikki. 

~~

Seventy-three. That was the number of romantic  _ dates _ Damian has had. All of them solely with a blue haired designer called Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

_ Wayne in the future _ , he added to himself as he held the specially made box with the necklace she bought for his angel. 

“Are you still preparing for the date with your girlfriend?” Todd asked, destroying Damian’s trail of thought. “It’s been 5 hours bat-brat.”

“It’s none of your business,” the Robin retorted with a scowl as he fixed his tie for the- he’s not sure really. Who counts how many times they fix their tie? Who cared? Damian certainly didn’t. “And she’s not my girlfriend,  _ yet _ .” 

Damian heard a loud crash from the hallway just in front of his closed bedroom door before it opened with a loud bang. “What?” It was Timothy Drake. “Are you telling me that you’ve been dating her for over a year and she’s not even your girlfriend?” The look of plain interest was evident on the Red Robin’s face. “We need to meet her now!”

“We need to meet who?” Richard Grayson interrupted them and entered Damian’s room. “Oooh, date with your girlfriend again?”

Tim laughed and jumped over to the eldest. “Dick! Listen to this. The girl Damian’s dating? She’s not his girlfriend yet.” 

The Nightwing hero looked shocked and confused. “No,” the elongation of the word made Damian roll his eyes. A trait he picked up from Marinette. “That’s so sad. Did she friendzone you?” 

Damian snapped at that and threw the nearest thing he could touch towards Grayson and Drake’s direction. It was Jason Todd. He threw the Red Hood at them. 

“Ow, what the fu-” 

“Get out of here!” Damian demanded, cutting Todd off, as he grabbed his phone and wallet before deciding to just fix himself in Paris. 

~~

“How about this?”

Marinette heard her friends sigh. Well just Chloe, really, but she knew that the others may be doing it internally. She has kept them there for hours already, so she guesses that it was fair.

“You look perfect, Mari.” Luka, the lead guitarist of the up and coming band Kitty Section, told her as he gave a perfect smile. 

“Why are you stressing anyway? It’s not like it’s your first date,” the blonde hotel heiress asked as she typed away on her phone. 

Mari pouted as she went back to her closet. She couldn’t tell them. If she’s thinking too much about it, they might kill Damian. Mari heaved a deep breath. 

“Uh-oh. That’s not a good sign,” her fellow bluenette said. “Marinette sighed, something’s wrong.” 

At this point, all four of her friends looked at her. Even Felix looked up from the book he’s reading and not even the apocalypse could make him do that. 

“Do we kill anyone?” The aspiring lawyer asked as he closed his book with one hand. 

“No,” was the collective answer and the blond guy shrugged before going back to reading. 

Falling to the floor on her knees she covered her face before speaking. “Dami might be breaking up with me.”

There was a small silence before a laugh can be heard from Chloe Bourgeois, “What? I don’t think we heard you right, honey.”

Groaning and looking up in distress Marinette repeated, “Damian might be breaking up with me!” 

There was a moment of silence and when Mari looked at her friends, all of them had different reactions. Luka was confused, Felix didn’t flinch, Kagami looked disappointed and Chloe was near laughing. 

“No he’s not,’’ it was the Bourgeois heiress who broke the silence. 

“You don’t understand.”

“No, we really don’t.”

“Why would you think that, Marinette?” Luka asked with his fluid voice.

Mari bit her lip, “He’s been avoiding me lately.” 

“You’re going on a date now, aren’t you?” the fencer asked her. 

“Yes, but,” she paused, not knowing if she should continue with her paranoia.

“But?” Luka urged her to go on. 

Slumping, she spoke again. “I don’t know. He’s been avoiding me for days now, he sent me a message about needing to see me and when I told him I missed him, he told me to  _ take care _ . Not ‘I miss you too’ but ‘take care’.” She must have spoken too fast but she couldn’t be bothered to care. “I just feel like he’s about to break up with me, you know?” 

Hearing the closing of the book from Felix’ end, Mari and the others looked at the blonde guy, “No, we don’t.” 

Mari pouted. 

“Listen, if he’s really going to break up with you, I doubt there’s a place where he can hide from these two,” the blond boy gestured at the two other girls in the room aside from her. “And if he lets you go, he’s dumb. And you don’t believe that Damian is dumb, do you?” 

Damian had 6 PhDs at his current age of 23, of course he’s not dumb. Marinette shook her head. 

“Good,” Felix massaged his head and leaned over his bestfriend, Luka let the other guy use his shoulder. “Now go prepare yourself. I feel like this night will be a long night.” 

~~

Damian couldn’t focus, he’s been tapping his foot nonstop and touching the box from inside his suit jacket. He was waiting for Marinette to arrive and when she did, his breath was knocked out of him in a way he never imagined. 

_ Beautiful _ , was the first thing he thought. Then covered his mouth when he realized that he said that out loud 

“What?” Marinette tilted her head to the side. Damian wanted to kiss her. 

“Nothing,” he said shaking his head as he walked to the lift that will bring them to the top of the Eiffel Tower. 

Damian felt Mari walk just behind him, and when he gestured her to get on the lift first before he followed suit, he saw her fiddling with her hands. An action she does when nervous, Damian observed 

“Everything will be alright,” he tried to reassure her, but the taut smile she gave him made her look more nervous than before. 

_ Why did she look so worried?  _ was the question running in Damian’s mind.  _ Did those friends of hers spill the beans? _

The elevator stopped before he could think of an answer to his own question. Walking out first, he offered his arm to escort her out, she shook her head. 

“It’s okay,” then she brisk walked out of the lift and into the table he had set up. 

Everything was supposed to have been perfect, but now Damian was just- what was the word? - nervous. Yes, that. 

Marinette sat on the further end of the table and Damian took the seat across her. Awkward silence filled them. 

“Umm.”

“Mari.” 

They started at the same time. 

“You go first.”

“You can speak first.”

More silence.

“Okay, then, let me-”

“I’ll go ahead then-”

Damian clasped his mouth shut at that point. Not wanting to interrupt her further and make this dinner go worse than it already is. Their date was just starting and it already knocked the time Damian got turned into a frog from the number one spot of worst dates they’ve ever had. 

Contemplating on the situation further, Damian’s thoughts was only interrupted when he heard sniffling from Mari’s end of the table. Looking at the girl, he saw that she was crying. 

“Angel,” he cooed, taking a table napkin and leaving his seat to kneel beside hers and wipe her nose and tears away. “What’s wrong?”

“Please don’t break up with me,” was what Marinette said with a small voice. 

~~

Marinette felt like her heart was breaking. The dinner they were having was the most lavish yet. Booking the entire Eiffel Tower for the night, who did Damian think he was. Was this his posh way of saying goodbye?

“Please don’t break up with me,” she asked in between sobs. 

He couldn’t see Damian’s expression, but his tone of genuine confusion made Marinette choke as he said his next words, “But we’re not even together.” 

The bluenette wondered if this was the payment for being selfish with her life. 

“I mean we’ve kissed yes, and we’ve gone on dates, but I don’t think we’ve talked about this, have we?” 

Pride, Marinette thought. She had to at least salvage a tiny bit of her pride. She didn’t answer and instead focused no stopping her tears from dripping. 

“Alright, that’s enough! I can’t believe you, Damian!” 

“Grayson?” 

Marinette looked at the source of the familiar voice and saw Nightwing with other people behind him, 

“What are you doing?” Damian covered her view and took a stance that seemed to shield her from the newcomers. Mari could see the guy’s broad back. The very one he cried on the times he felt down. She wiped the tears that were threatening to fall. 

“No, Damian. What are  _ you _ doing?” this time, the voice came from the opposite end of the other people. It was Chloe’s voice. “When you said you were going to propose, I never thought you meant a break up!” 

Mari gasped. 

“What?” Damian retorted. “I’m not breaking up with her? We’re not even together yet!”

Everyone stared at the guy, including her. 

“I was going to propose to her to be my girlfriend,” he explained. “Wait, what were you all thinking?”

“Aren’t I your girlfriend yet?” Mari asked. She had to, they’ve been dating for 8 months for Pete’s sake. Exclusively at that. He’s called her weird pet names and have exchanged I love you’s! 

“I don’t think the question has ever been dropped, love.” 

Silence fell between the people in the tower. “Wait, when you’ll be asking her an important question, you meant being his boyfriend?” Felix Agreste, now aggressive. 

“Yes.” 

“ _ Mon Dieu, I just lost 5 years of my life _ .”

Whatever was happening didn’t process in Marinette’s brain until moments later. She must have blocked everything out at one point because the next thing she knew he was being carried bridal style. 

“Hold tight, angel. I’ll get us out of here,” Damian said as he jumped towards the ledge.

Hearing their names being yelled from on top of the famous Parisian attraction, Mari ignored that in opt to hug Damian’s neck as she finally understood what was happening. 

She couldn’t wait for them to be alone so she can answer him properly. 

~~

Damian stopped on the bridge over the river. It was far enough from the tower, so he was sure they’d have at least half an hour of alone time. He’ll use as much time as he can. 

Setting the bluenette down, Damian saw Mari still flustered from the trip. 

“Sorry,” he said as he fixed himself as well, suddenly aware that his suit has been crumpled and that the shoes he wore were  _ not  _ made for constant jumping. 

“N-No,” Mari said loudly then immediately retracted. “I-I mean, there’s no need to apologize.” 

“There is,” he decided. Now or never. 

Without taking his eyes of her, Damian took the box with the necklace he was supposed to use to ask Mari to be his girlfriend, and knelt on one knee. 

“Yes.” Mari stated. 

“I haven’t even said anything yet.”

“Doesn’t matter, the answer is yes, you dummy. I’ve been your girlfriend for months now.” 

Damian laughed, “I gathered. I wasn’t sure when we labeled ourselves as such though.”

“Since you professed your love to me in front of my highschool batchmates?” 

_ Fair _ , Damian thought as he nodded. 

“Well, I guess you won’t need this anymore then,” he waved the box in his hand and when Mari looked at his hand, her eyes widened. 

Grabbing the box from him, she opened it and bright light surrounded them as a small little fairy appeared. 

“Tikki!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end! If you still find any misses in grammar, sentence structure, punctuation or spellings, just point it out so I can fix it. Thanks y'all!

**Author's Note:**

> There are 20 chapters originally posted in Tumblr. If you want to read the first draft, you can check it from there. Thank you for reading!


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